It has been a humbling season for a quarterback who has been the best in the country at every level for most of his life. Experiencing the hardships of already losing a head coach, multiple changing hands at offensive play caller, and marching onto the field with one of the worst supporting casts in the league, Young has faced plenty of adversity. None of that seemed to matter in the waning moments of last Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.
While it was mostly a defensive battle between the division rival Panthers and Falcons, the game did ultimately fall on the shoulders of both of their signal callers in opposite ways. Atlanta quarterback Desmond Ridder tossed a horrific interception directly to a Carolina defender with just seven minutes left in the ball game up 7-6.
This sharply contrasted with the response by the No. 1 overall pick, Bryce Young, who was able to take the opportunity given to him by his defense and march his team from the Panthers’ own six-yard line all the way down the field to set up a game-winning field goal.
The calmness and poise that Young showed when chucking the ball with the game on the line in a cold and windy environment is precisely why Carolina moved up to the top of the draft to take him. If Young can string together some of what we saw on that final drive, and the talent around him can match, this Panthers team may end up surprising down the final stretch of the season.