QB Bryce Young leads Panthers to victory, Week 10 status uncertain
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young spoke with unusual confidence for a player on the verge of NFL history for futility when he entered the huddle with 3:26 remaining on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.
"He said, 'Let's go get this win! Why can't it be us?''' wide receiver David Moore said after the 23-22 victory over the New Orleans Saints that gave Young his first winning touchdown drive in the NFL.
But as solid as Young played in helping Carolina (2-7) win its first home game in 322 days, coach Dave Canales wasn't willing to commit to the top pick of the 2023 draft remaining his starter over Andy Dalton for Sunday's game against the New York Giants in Munich, Germany.
"He came up big in some critical moments and gave us an opportunity a couple of times,'' Canales said of Young. "Just proud of the step that he took again. He's taken all the things we're asking him to do, getting us to the right place at the right time.
"So, a great step. We'll take in all the information, watch the film. We've got a process. We've got to make sure we look at all this stuff.''
The win kept Young, 3-17 for his career and 1-3 this season, from becoming the third quarterback since starts were first tracked in 1950 to lose 18 of his first 20 starts. He avoided joining San Francisco's Steve DeBerg (1978-79) and Carolina's Chris Weinke (2001-2007).
His teammates saw Sunday as somewhat of a coming-out moment, even if Canales wasn't willing to make a quick judgment moving forward.
"This cat has been through so much,'' guard Robert Hunt said. "But I've seen the fire in him. He can compete now. I like the way he competes. He'll bring it all back. He's young, man. He's a competitor. And today he did really well.''
Young said it felt great to be on the field and take a knee for a win for the first time in the NFL. His only two wins last season came on last-second field goals by Eddy Pineiro when Young was on the sideline.
In terms of whether he starts against the Giants, Young said he will let the coaching staff figure that out. His plan was to celebrate with family and friends a much-needed victory for a team hoping to avoid its seventh straight losing season.
In terms of the last time he engineered a winning touchdown drive, Young said somebody would have to Google that.
What is known for sure, according to ESPN Research, is Young didn't have one in the NFL or at Alabama before engineering the 64-yard drive capped by Chuba Hubbard's 16-yard run with 2:18 remaining Sunday.
Young did lead his high school, Mater Dei in Santa Ana, California, to a 28-24 victory over IMG Academy of Bradenton, Florida, his junior year in 2018. Young went the final 5 yards on his own with 1:09 remaining.
Young's performance against the Saints (2-7), which beat Carolina 47-10 in Week 1, came on third-and-10 from his own 36-yard line when he drilled a pass over the middle to rookie wide receiver Xavier Legette for a 26-yard gain.
He followed that with a pass over the middle to rookie tight endJa'Tavion Sandersthat drew a pass interference penalty at the 16.
From there, Hubbard did the rest, scampering off the right guard for the score.
Young's final stat line -- 16-of-26 for 171 yards with a touchdown and an interception -- wasn't overly impressive.
But his interception came on a play that Legette admitted he should have made, and his touchdown was a perfectly thrown pass to Legette in the second quarter on second-and-goal from the 3.
Hubbard called it a big win for Young, who was benched after an 0-2 start but got the job back three games ago after Dalton was in a minor car accident in which he sprained his thumb.
Dalton was healthy enough to play Sunday, but Canales stuck with Young even though he has consistently said the 37-year-old Dalton gave the Panthers the best chance to win.
"Just all the adversities he's had to deal with,'' Hubbard said of Young. "I've said since day one he's handled it really great and just kept working. For him to get this and play as well as he did, he deserves it.''
Young did have a moment Sunday when he seemed frustrated over the conservative playcalling by Canales, but both brushed that off as no big deal.
"I'm competitive,'' Young said. "All competitors, in every drive that we don't score, obviously we're all frustrated about that. But there's a balance. I have a ton of respect for Coach Canales.''
Young tried to keep Sunday's win in perspective in what it could mean moving forward, but he smiled more at his postgame news conference than he has in a long time.
"We will deal with that at the appropriate time,'' Young said of whether he starts next week. "You give yourself a little grace to enjoy [this]. There's little time to just celebrate. I have family here, so we'll probably get some food.''
