The first game of NFL preseason had no right to be that good. The Panthers and Cardinals gave us a Hall of Fame classic on Thursday night that came down to the final play, with rookie quarterback Haynes King rushing for a touchdown as time expired to give Carolina the win. Not only was the level of play much higher than anyone expected, but there was plenty of drama along the way.

Whenever there’s a national game like there are overreactions, especially in preseason. Let’s dive into what we’re all reacting to after Panthers-Cardinals.

No. 1: Haynes King is coming for Bryce Youngs job

There is no question Haynes King was a standout performer on Thursday night at QB, with the rookie showing poise in the pocket, an ability to move the chains, and scoring three touchdowns for the Panthers, including the game-winner.

King is third on the QB depth chart in Carolina behind Bryce Young and Kenny Pickett — and he could very well push Pickett for the backup job, but the idea he’ll supplant the starter is ridiculous. No matter how great that performance was, the rookie had been struggling in training camp up to this point, particularly with his decision making. So while it’s tempting to glean too much info from preseaon, we also need to pump the brakes on getting too hyped over watching King succeed against the Cardinals depth defenders.

If Carolina is able to land a long-term backup in King it will still be a massive win for them.

No. 2: Carson Beck is a superstar in the making

We had a standout performance from Carson Beck, with the rookie really showing off both the velocity of his arm in tight windows and some touch in small spaces where needed. It led to a lot of people getting so blown away with the performance that things got a little carried away, annointing Beck as a star in the making, a draft steal, and the reason the Cardinals won’t be picking a QB in 2027.

Let’s chill out on taking it this far. Beck had a really good game, but the Panthers defense was a mess in the secondary. Carolina started their deep-depth players and guys on the back-end of the roster, with the defense not even being called by coordinator Ejiro Evero. Beck still needed to make the throws, but the bulk of his yards came on busted coverage and throwing into giant gaping windows.

We’ll need to see that same level performance against a real defense before we can even begin the discussion in earnest.

No. 3: The Panthers pass defense is in trouble

This dovetails off the discussion of Carson Beck, because, as mentioned, there were a ton of mitigating factors here. Not only did Carolina start their extreme depth, but they didnt have their defensive coordinator use any situational playcalling. Instead they more or less sat in their base shell and allowed the defense to pick them apart.

Not that you ever want your team getting destroyed in the passing game, but it’s too early to panic.

No. 4: Getting too carried away with two receivers

On each side of the ball we had a receiver who turned heads and got people a little too excited, a little too quickly. Arizona’s Jalen Brooks and Carolina’s Ja’Seem Reed coninuted their good training camp reports with solid games, but people are getting a little carried away with both at this point.

Brooks is a former 7th rounder who struggled to hold a back-end roster spot with the Cowboys, and Reed is a UDFA. That doesn’t mean they won’t have success, but the talk after the game was whether or not these guys could become top-four rotation receivers.

If they make the 53 it will be a major achievement for either. That’s still the expectation here, and should be how we think about these players.