A pick six from Blake Bortles contributed to the Jacksonville Jaguars falling to a 20-9 defeat at home to the Carolina Panthers in their opening match of the 2015 NFL season this evening.
Both sides were guilty of some sloppy play on offense in the first half, but it was the Panthers who broke the deadlock when Graham Gano fired over a field goal from 43 yards.
Jason Myers struck a kick of his own with just over a minute left of the first quarter to level things up, but the mistakes continued to pile up, with both sides missing field goals in addition to fumbles, dropped catches and interceptions.
The first touchdown finally came with less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter as Cam Newton found an unmarked Jerricho Cotchery in the endzone to open his account for the season.
The Jaguars responded before the half was up, however, with Rashad Greene collecting a short pass from Bortles for a one-yard score, although Myers missed the extra point to leave his side trailing by one at the break.
The Panthers lost Luke Kuechly to a head injury in the first half and would have been looking for someone to step up on defence - something Josh Norman managed when he picked off a Bortles throw before returning it 30 yards for a touchdown.
It was the fifth pick six that Bortles had thrown in his NFL career to date, which is more than any other player in the league since the start of last season.
Gano added a 47-yard field goal in the final quarter to nudge his side into an 11-point lead, and that is how it stayed as the Panthers eased to a comfortable, if not entirely convincing, victory.
Barney Corkhill
