Photo via Carolina Panthers

A few reasons why the Panthers and Patriots are worth watching.

The third preseason game, for most NFL teams, is as close as it gets to the real thing. It most mirrors what the regular season will look like, as teams sit many of their regulars in the fourth-and-final exhibition leading into week one.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera has already said that his starters will play well into the third quarter tonight at Bank of American Stadium because he wants to see how they handle the halftime adjustments the coaches give them.

Thomas Davis will likely play late in the second half, since Davis must miss the first four regular season games after violating the NFL’s drug policy. So the guys who will open on both sides of the ball against the Cowboys on September 9 will get the most snaps until then. So, let’s see how Cam Newton does against the Patriots revamped defense.

Newton likely will play very little in next week’s last preseason game at Pittsburgh.

The crowd should be pumped in Charlotte with optimism high after winning the first two games and now having Tom Brady and the perennially powerful Pats, also 2-0, in town. Brady played into the second half last week at home against the Eagles and this will be his first road game of this season, so TB 12 will want to experience a hostile setting before sitting out next week against the Giants in New York as NFL roster’s get their final trim.

However, the Panthers probably won’t see Rob Gronkowski, as Gronk’s MO in recent years has been to skip the entire preseason. That goes for Carolina’s Julius Peppers. The 38-year-old hasn’t taken a single snap in practice while working on conditioning to both prepare and preserve his body.

But Christian McCaffery will play most of the game and the Panthers will settle on a replacement for Jonathan Stewart, who signed with the Giants after having a so-so season in 2017. How much will McCaffery line up in the slot or behind Newton? Without the retired Charles Johnson, how will the pass rush do with Brady who has some new protection long New England’s offensive line?

With those questions and more getting answered, all of it pretty much must-see TV.

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