Just as I said last week before after the Dolphins preseason opner against the Bucs, it’s still preseason. Take deep breaths to settle your panic or subdue any elation. There’s still two more of these contests before the four-month regular season. With that said, here’s what I saw from the Dolphins game against the Panthers on Friday night.

For those who don’t know, Kenyan Drake can be a three-down threat.

With starting wide receivers Kenny Stills and Devante Parker sitting out this affair, Drake was the top threat on the field. Not only did he gash a formidable Panthers defense for solid runs, but he also showed he was a reliable valve out of the backfield catching passes (though a couple of his efforts were negated by penalties). He posted eight carries for 54 yards on the ground.

So long as his fellow offensive starters weren’t shooting themselves in the foot with 25 yards in penalties in the first quarter alone, Drake and the squad were able to move the ball well. Tannehill knocked off some rust from last week’s preseason effort in an uplifting 14-for-17 completion rate for 100 yards passing in the first half of action.

The bad news, mistakes in the red zone kept the Dolphins kicking three field goals of their four field goals. The good news, despite all the mistakes, the offense either moved the ball or were set up opportunities to score by the defense to put 18 points on the board. Quarterback Bryce Petty came through with a late touchdown for the Dolphins once again.

Robert Quinn and Cameron Wake looked to be good as advertised.

The newly acquired Robert Quinn charged in to sack Panther quarterback Cam Newton twice. Moreover, the Dolphins neutralized Newton as the running threat he famous for. Pair that with many hurries that contributed to concluded Carolina drives and there’s real potential for the Dolphins to stay in games with their pass rush.

Unfortunately, the middle of the front seven is still a huge issue. Letting Panthers running back, Christian McCaffrey take it to the house for 71 yards on the game’s second play is a gaffe. While linebacker Raekwon McMillan looked late getting to plays during the evening, he’s still getting into the swing of things after recovering from last year’s season-ending injury. The defensive tackle position is still feeling the pain of losing Ndamukong Suh. At no point were the Panthers even slowed on the ground, breaking the 200-yard mark.

As for the secondary, Xavien Howard picked off a pass from Newton as a bright spot for the starting defense.