Well, at least the pressure is off the Panthers — for now.

Obviously, there was more at stake for the Carolina Panthers than the Denver Broncos, who came into the NFL opener with greener than green quarterback Trevor Siemian, and having won the Super Bowl over the Cats last February. The Panthers will prove to be a better team than Denver in the long run, but it was a very tough way start the new season.

The Panthers could have won if Graham Gano had made a 50-50 field goal from 50 yards out, or if Cam Newton hadn’t been bruised and battered by the Denver defense into a poor second half. But, let’s face it, the Broncos had more going for them than was on paper. A raucous Mile High Stadium opening night crowd to salute their champs, Peyton Manning walking the Lombardi Trophy out before the game and a rookie QB who turned out to be better than Manning was at the end of his career.

Both teams obviously studied the Super Bowl tapes, making sure they corrected the mistakes made in the last game. The Broncos won on their defense, which was unstoppable in the playoffs, and held the Panthers to one of 14 third-down conversions in the Super Bowl. This time, they appeared more prepared to handle Denver defense, but changes in the Broncos scheme and personnel threw in some new wrinkles that Carolina had trouble handling even before Newton got roughed up.

Luke Kuechly was in full form. Most of the Panthers defense played stout again, but besides scoring more points than in the Super Bowl, the offense again did not give the “D” much help.

It was a long heart-breaking flight for the home-state team, failing to prove again it’s the best in pro football. As the team and coaches get past this one, they’ll get rolling for sure in the right direction.