JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- When you lose your best defensive player, you would figure your defense may not put forth its best effort.

That wasn't the case with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday when they used two interceptions, including a pick-six, and five sacks of Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles to record a 20-9 win over the Jaguars on Sunday afternoon at EverBank Field.

Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly suffered a concussion late in the second quarter and missed the remainder of the game. Kuechly led the NFL in tackles last year and has been the league leader three times in the last four years. But his injury, a concussion, did not diminish the effort of the Panthers defense. They inserted A.J. Klein in the middle and with a ball-hawking secondary and a lot of pressure from the front four, the Panthers kept the Jaguars offense at bay much of the game.

It was still a tight game early in the fourth quarter when the Panthers took over on their own 6-yard line following a Jaguars punt and Carolina penalty on the play. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton directed a 15-play march that advanced to the 29-yard line. It stalled there however, forcing Graham Gano to come in and convert a 47-yard field goal to hike the margin to 11 points with just over two minutes left in the game.

"That was extremely important especially in an away game, to take the crowd out of it," Newton said. "Just finding a way to win it, that's all we wanted. There have been times when we found ways not to lose instead of ways to win. There were still times we could have imposed our will. The defense played well today, especially with the pick-six. But we can't keep expecting things like that from our defense without any help from us. Josh had a big game today, that's no surprise to a lot of us. Plays are going to be there to be made and he made them today."

Jacksonville had the ball for just eight plays in the fourth quarter prior to getting the ball back and trailing 20-9. They had a seven-play drive that netted 24 yards and ended when quarterback Blake Bortles was sacked for a 2-yard loss. On their possession, Bortles had his arm hit as he attempted to pass and linebacker Thomas Davis grabbed the wobbly ball for an interception just inside the 20-yard line.

The Panthers put heavy pressure on Bortles throughout the game. They sacked the Jaguars quarterback five times and forced him into two interceptions. He finished with just 183 passing yards on 22-of-40 passing.

The Jaguars quarterback said it wasn't so much what the Panthers defense did as it was the way the offensive unit played.

"It wasn't what they did to us, but it was what we did to ourselves," Bortles said. "We had multiple little things where we just shot ourselves in the foot. It's fixable stuff. It's not the way you want to come out and start the season at all. We're not going to sugarcoat it. It wasn't good enough and we're going to have to do better."

Norman's theft early in the third quarter was a momentum-changer. The Panthers cornerback read the sideline pass intended for T.J. Yeldon, stepped in front of the Jaguars running back and sprinted untouched to the end zone for the score.

"On the interception, when my chance came I took it, I ran with it," Norman said. "When he threw the pass, my feet went before I could think. I broke on it, caught the ball, made sure I had it and took off running. I said good-bye to him on the way. I wanted to give the defense some energy to get going."

The teams labored through a 3-3 game for the first 28 minutes of the game before both scored in the final two minutes. Carolina put together a 61-yard, 12-play march with quarterback Cam Newton connecting on six of seven passes for 44 yards. He teamed with wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery from 6 yards out for the touchdown with 1:52 left in the half.

The Jaguars answered with a late drive of their own with Bortles putting together his best series of the game. He hit on seven of eight passes for 53 yards including a 24-yard sideline toss to wide receiver Allen Hurns. Officials first ruled that Hurns did not have two feet inbounds, but the play was reviewed and reversed to a completed pass. Two plays later, Bortles hit wide receiver Rashad Greene on a 1-yard toss into the end zone.

But the Jaguars failed to tie the game, however, when placekicker Jason Myers' point-after attempt missed wide right.

That was just one of many mistakes that the Jaguars made in the game, leaving an eerie silence to the Jaguars locker room afterwards.

"The feeling right now is uncomfortable in our locker room," Jaguars coach Gus Bradley said. "It's not a good feeling because I think we felt like things that were under our control -- dropped passes, mistakes, critical errors -- kept us from getting over the top of this game. That's what we need to do as a team and take the next step. We have to see where our bar is, where we're at and how much further we need to go."

NOTES: Carolina OT Daryl Williams went out with a knee injury on the Panthers' first-quarter field goal and did not return to the game. ... Jaguars starting LT Luke Joeckell suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter and did not return. ... After giving up a league-high 71 sacks a year ago, the Jaguars started the season allowing five sacks ... Gano had four of his five kickoffs go out of the end zone. He's led the league in kickoff touchback percentage in each of the last three seasons.