CHARLOTTE -- For years, it's been the saving grace of New England's defense.

And in the single best preview of the Patriots' 2018 campaign to come, red-zone performance saved them yet again Friday.

During the starter-dominated first half, New England held the Panthers to a field goal try on their first three trips inside the red zone during an otherwise ugly 25-14 defeat. This kept the Patriots competitive entering halftime, as their offense was limited to three possessions and three points through two quarters. Ideally, New England would make its stands well before being pushed against the wall.

For now, its last-minute fights will have to suffice as the regular season nears.

"We always talk about being good in the red area, and forcing teams to kick three points instead of giving up touchdowns," safety Duron Harmon said. "That's one of the positive things that we can definitely take from this. But we need to do better on not letting people get down there and driving on us."

At the end of its 16-play march that opened the game, Carolina snapped the ball five times inside New England's 7-yard line. While the Panthers did pick up a first down during that stretch, four hand-offs and a false start penalty put them at third-and-goal from the three. Stephon Gilmore then recorded a masterful pass break-up in the end zone, the result of textbook cornerback technique throughout the play.

"It was a big play," Gilmore said. "[I] pressed him, got my hands on him and was able to beat him to the ball. So anytime we can stop 'em in the red zone it's always good."

Newton responded by firing consecutive 28-yard completions to receivers working against Gilmore on the next series. But once he threw incomplete to Curtis Samuel and running back Christian McCaffrey was dropped for a 1-yard loss, Newton found himself in another troublesome third down. This time he spun out of a crumbling pocket before heading out of bounds just inside the 20, ushered out by linebacker Kyle Van Noy.

Despite initially being stung, the coverage again held up.

Said Harmon: "Whether they had a long drive or a big play, you just try to hold yourself to a high standard in there and say, although we're not in a good position right now, let's do the best we can to just force them to kick three points and go back to the sideline and try to correct what happened."

One punt later, New England's pass defense turned leaky as Newton captained a two-minute drill to close the half. He found Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen three times en route to the 5-yard line, where he eventually spiked the ball to set up a field goal with 0:01 left.

Had the clock stopped and the Panthers been afforded the 10 seconds they deserved after Olsen's last catch went out of bounds, perhaps they would've scored a touchdown. But as it went Friday, the results of their red-zone trips were all too familiar to Patriots opponents of the past.

You cross inside the 20, and that's about as far as you're going to go.