Haynes King’s Walk-Off Touchdown Lifts Panthers Past Cardinals 33-30 in Hall of Fame Game
Football is back, and it delivered a finish nobody saw coming. The Carolina Panthers beat the Arizona Cardinals 33-30 in Thursday night’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, when rookie quarterback Haynes King scrambled five yards into the end zone as time expired.
There was no overtime on the table. Preseason games don’t get one. So with the ball at Arizona’s 5-yard line and two seconds showing on the clock, Carolina had one shot to win it outright or go home with a loss. King dropped back, saw the middle of the field open up, pump-faked, tucked the ball and dove for the pylon. According to the Panthers’ own recap, his teammates mobbed him on the field within seconds of the whistle.
“When they called it, and he didn’t look at the receiver, I knew he was going to run,” receiver David Moore told the team’s website afterward.
Corey Kiner Opens the Scoring
Before the wild finish, the first points of the 2026 season belonged to Arizona. Cardinals running back Corey Kiner, an undrafted talent out of LSU and Cincinnati who spent parts of last year on three different rosters, punched in a one-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to cap a 13-play, 96-yard drive that ate more than seven minutes off the clock.
NFL posted video of the score on X: “The FIRST touchdown of the season @AZCardinals @ProFootballHOF Game on NBC. Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock” —
The FIRST touchdown of the season 😤 @AZCardinals@ProFootballHOF Game on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/vZAR59QYRN— NFL (@NFL) August 7, 2026
Kiner finished with 22 yards on five carries. It capped a long road back for the 24-year-old, who bounced from the 49ers to the Vikings’ practice squad before Arizona claimed him in December.
Beck Impresses, King Answers Back
Cardinals rookie quarterback Carson Beck made the loudest first impression of the night before halftime. He finished 15-of-19 for 188 yards and a touchdown, a five-yard fade to Simi Fehoko in the corner of the end zone, posting a 125.4 passer rating in his first NFL action. NFL.com’s Nick Shook wrote that Beck looked comfortable and in rhythm from his first snap, mixing accurate short throws with deep balls that flashed his arm strength.
Carolina answered with its own rookie storyline. Third-string quarterback Haynes King entered after veteran Kenny Pickett went 8-of-11 for 62 yards, and the Georgia Tech product immediately sped up Carolina’s offense. He hit Ja’seem Reed for a 15-yard touchdown to tie the game at 17 heading into the locker room, then kept building throughout the second half.
King finished the night 21-of-34 for 180 yards and two passing touchdowns, adding 39 rushing yards and the walk-off score on three carries. His final line included a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to running back Anthony Tyus III that briefly put Carolina up 24-20, part of a back-and-forth stretch that saw the lead change hands multiple times in the final period.
| Quarterback | Team | Stat Line |
|---|---|---|
| Carson Beck | Cardinals | 15/19, 188 yds, 1 TD, 125.4 rating |
| Haynes King | Panthers | 21/34, 180 yds, 2 TD passing; 39 rush yds, 1 rush TD |
| Kenny Pickett | Panthers | 8/11, 62 yds |
Late Cardinals Push Sets Up the Finish
Arizona wasn’t done after falling behind. The Cardinals scored late to take a 30-27 lead with 1:55 remaining, forcing King back onto the field for one more drive. He converted a third-and-14 by tucking the ball and running for the first down, then pushed the Panthers into the red zone before the final snap. With no timeouts working in Carolina’s favor and the clock down to two seconds, coach Dave Canales elected to go for the win rather than kick a tying field goal, according to Yahoo Sports.
It’s a decision that will get replayed plenty around Charlotte in the coming days, but it worked. King’s scramble made him the story of the night for a Panthers team that hadn’t played in the Hall of Fame Game since its inaugural 1995 season.
What It Means
Preseason wins and losses don’t count for much once the regular season starts, but this one gave both organizations real film to work with. Arizona is breaking in a new coaching staff under Mike LaFleur, his first game as head coach after three seasons running the Rams’ offense, and Beck’s performance is exactly the kind of debut a rookie quarterback wants under a new regime.
Carolina, meanwhile, may have found a legitimate question mark behind starter Bryce Young. King’s blend of accuracy and mobility outshined Pickett’s more cautious outing, and Shook noted that King’s skill set draws closer comparisons to Young’s than Pickett’s does — the kind of development storyline that could shape roster decisions later in camp.
Neither the Cardinals nor the Panthers are considered contenders heading into 2026, which makes stretches like this one — early training camp battles playing out in real preseason snaps — especially valuable. With the Hall of Fame Game in the books, the rest of the NFL’s 32 teams open their own preseason slates over the next two weeks.
