CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The New England Patriots’ offense took a step forward Friday night against the Carolina Panthers, even as their quarterback was handling a major event in his Hollywood-worthy life and gossip writers were swarming around the team like flies in the humid North Carolina night.

With key pieces missing at different times thus far this preseason, Tom Brady and his teammates on the offensive side of the ball seemed to be having difficulty finding a rhythm.

But on Friday New England may have made significant progress as it aims to script the perfect ending more than five months from now — in Arizona, not Hollywood — turning in a solid performance in a 24-7 win over the Carolina Panthers.

Brady, who arrived in Charlotte from California, where he welcomed his first son on Wednesday, had Laurence Maroney in the backfield for the first time this preseason, the offensive line protecting him better than it had last week against the Titans, and was his usual efficient self in the passing game, completing 17 passes to eight different receivers.

Lest anyone get too excited, however, everyone from Bill Belichick on down was quick to point out after the game that New England remains a work in progress.

“There are a lot of things we could do better out there. It’s far from a perfect game,” Belichick said. “There are a lot of things we could do better in all three phases of the game. I’m glad we didn’t turn the ball over offensively, but we had some penalties down in the red area, we missed some plays in the kicking game (and) gave up a long touchdown pass.”

“We’re still not (happy),” fullback Heath Evans said. “When I first got here, one of the first things I realized was there’s an attitude of perfection. You know you’ll never achieve it, but you strive for it.”

“We’ll look at the film and see,” if things improved from last week, guard Stephen Neal said. “There’s always room to improve.”

Maroney, who shed the red non-contact jersey he’d been wearing after offseason shoulder surgery this week, giving him clearance to hit and be hit, didn’t have to wait long to see how he’d hold up. Brady handed him the ball on the Patriots’ first seven offensive snaps over two possessions. The St. Louis native saw his night end after 15 carries for 58 yards (3.9 yards per carry).

“I’m not going to lie, the first series I felt kind of rusty,” Maroney said. “I wanted to know how the first hit felt on my shoulder (and) after I got into the swing of things, I got rolling. The whole first series I felt uncomfortable; I wasn’t sure if I was making the right reads.”

But once he “got the jitterbugs out of the way,” Maroney said everything started coming back to him.

As Maroney was getting his sea legs under him again, Brady was all business. He didn’t complete his first pass attempt, for Benjamin Watson, but then converted 12 of his next 13 and finished the night 17-for-22 for 167 yards and two scores. No sacks, no interceptions.

The ever-genial Evans became the star of the show with a 43-yard carry in the third quarter that set up the Patriots’ third touchdown. He bowled over a defender near the line of scrimmage, then fended off a second before he was knocked out of bounds.

“I stiff-armed the same guy six times because I’m so slow,” Evans joked.

Defensively, things were more like Groundhog Day — another good performance, but not without its shaky moments.

Carolina had just seven points on New England’s first-team defense, with the touchdown coming on a 48-yard catch-and-run by Keary Colbert at the end of the first half. Jake Delhomme’s pass to Colbert was over the short middle, but Colbert, lined up opposite defensive back Mike Richardson, got past the rookie quickly and then outran the rest of the defense, getting a nice block from Steve Smith near the goal line.

Richardson saw a number of snaps at the nickel spot, which is where rookie Brandon Meriweather had been lining up to this point.

Panthers’ running back DeAngelo Williams had nine carries and was held to just 29 yards; Delhomme went 11-for-18 for 162 yards.

Seventh-round draft pick Oscar Lua proved that sometimes the story doesn’t change, picking off Carolina quarterback David Carr — last seen struggling in Houston — in the second half and returning the interception 13 yards.

And Vince Wilfork, already growing into one of the best interior linemen in the NFL and beloved for his fumble recovery rumble in the playoffs against the Jets, added to his legend, getting his paws on two John Kasay field-goal attempts.

“We got a good surge up the middle,” on the blocks, Belichick said. “It was a team effort; it’s not just one guy. It’s hard to tell exactly what happened, but I know we got a good push. The linebackers were pushing those guys inside, and Vince got off on the ball.”

Admittedly, the Patriots are reworking the script, and even some of the actors involved, but the dailies are looking good. Is it still too early to predict they might be receiving the NFL’s Oscar — the Lombardi?

smanza@projo.com