Another big W in Atlanta: Bryce Young silences doubters, breaks Cam’s record — ‘He’s a baller’ – The Athletic
ATLANTA — Mercedes-Benz Stadium is becoming Bryce Young’s personal playground.
A year after his coach declared him the franchise’s “guy” after a big game in this building, the Carolina Panthers’ third-year quarterback returned with the buzzards circling. No one in the organization had voiced concern. But with Young near the bottom of the league in most passing categories, questions about his franchise quarterback status were beginning to bubble to the surface.
Enter the Atlanta Falcons, Young’s elixir.
Young accounted for five touchdowns in a 44-38 overtime win here in Week 18 last season, punctuated by a look-away, TD pass to tight end Tommy Tremble that Steph Curry, the Charlotte native and look-away master, endorsed on social media.
But Young topped it Sunday, this time drawing from another NBA legend — Willis Reed, who fought through a leg injury in Game 7 to help the New York Knicks win the championship in 1970.
Young played through a right ankle injury to throw for 448 yards, breaking Cam Newton’s single-game franchise passing record, leading the Panthers to a 30-27 overtime victory and silencing the doubters. Young, who had surpassed 199 yards once this season before Sunday, completed 31 of 45 passes, with three touchdowns against the NFL’s top-ranked pass defense.
“It’s the same thing I say every time you guys ask me that question: He’s a baller. And people always doubt him, and when they doubt him the most that’s when he always comes through,” Tremble said. “That’s resilient. Not a lot of people in the world can do that. And he’s one of those dudes. We love playing with him. He’s a freakin’ playmaker and he’s a tough cookie, man. Coming out and gutting it out like that was the reason we got the win.”
Young went down in pain late in the first quarter when rookie safety Billy Bowman sacked him and stepped on his right ankle. It’s the same one Young sprained in a Week 7 win against the New York Jets, sidelining him the following week against the Buffalo Bills.
As he walked into the locker room, Young waved off the cart and had to convince the training staff to let him return. With the Falcons (3-7) embarking on a 13-play, 95-yard touchdown drive that ate up 8 minutes, Young had time to get his ankle wrapped, pass a few physical tests and was back without missing an offensive snap.
“He gave me a thumbs up and said, ‘I’m good,’” Panthers coach Dave Canales said. “I said, ‘That’s good enough for me. Let’s get him back out there.’”
Young had completed 8-of-9 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown before his injury, with completions going to six different receivers. But other than getting tripped up by right guard Chandler Zavala coming out from under center on a fourth-and-1 late in regulation, Young’s ankle didn’t seem to limit him — certainly not in the pass game.
Asked about his ankle, Young said: “Pain’s an accurate way to sum it up.”
After the New Orleans Saints stuffed the Panthers’ run game last week, Canales and Young were criticized for not making the Saints pay for the stacked boxes by stretching the field through the air. The Panthers came into the game with 21 completions of 20 yards or more, and just one against the Saints.
Young had nine such completions Sunday, while spreading the ball around to nine different receivers.
“If teams wanna try to take away one thing, we’ve gotta be able to dominate in another way,” left tackle Ikem Ekwonu said. “And I feel like Bryce stepped up to the challenge and he let it fly today.”
One of those shot plays was a 36-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Legette on the Panthers’ first series of the second half. It was Legette’s longest catch of the year, and he celebrated by riding his imaginary horse, Dolla Bill, across the back of the end zone.
The Fox cameras showed Young smiling at Legette’s celebration, which was enjoyed by several of his teammates — and mimicked by Ekwonu.
“I was a little further back. It was a long throw. But I got on my Dolla Bill a little bit,” Ekwonu said. “I might’ve been a little late getting to the crowd. My horse is a little skinnier than everybody else’s. But I try.”
While Young was cooking, the Panthers’ defense was throwing cold water on the Falcons’ offensive playmakers. Safety Tre’von Moehrig hit quarterback Michael Penix Jr. on a blitz and the Atlanta QB left with a knee injury and did not return, and the Panthers (6-5) held Bijan Robinson (seven second-half/OT carries for 11 yards) and Drake London (two second-half receptions for 11 yards) in check after failing to do so in the first half.
Tommy Tremble breaks free for a 54-yard gain in overtime that set up the Panthers’ game-winning field goal. (Brett Davis / Imagn Images)
Meanwhile, a couple of Young’s biggest plays down the stretch came on short passes that running back Rico Dowdle and Tremble turned into gains of 28 and 54 yards, respectively. Dowdle’s screen pass — initially ruled a touchdown before a replay review determined he’d stepped out of bounds — led to Tetairoa McMillan’s go-ahead, 12-yard TD.
After ex-Panther Zane Gonzalez forced overtime with a 45-yard field goal, the Panthers forced Kirk Cousins into a three-and-out on Atlanta’s first overtime possession. Then on the Panthers’ first series of OT, Young went through his first two reads before finding Tremble, who ripped through several tacklers before finally getting dragged down at the Atlanta 15.
“Amazing play, amazing effort,” Young said. “When you can get through your progressions and throw a 6-yard pass and it go for 40, 50, whatever it went (for) to win the game, that’s a real luxury.”
Four plays later, Ryan Fitzgerald drilled a 28-yarder for the third game winner of his rookie season. That capped Young’s 10th career game-winning drive, the most in the NFL since he entered the league as the No. 1 pick in 2023.
It’s fitting the ball ended up in Tremble’s hands. The Atlanta native was looking for redemption after a third-quarter drop, and found it in the stadium where he and Young now have a history.
“We love coming to play here. It’s a fun environment,” Tremble said. “For us to go out here and do our thing again, we just have a blast doing it.”
It’s always more fun when you win. And by sweeping the season series with Atlanta for the first time since 2013, the Panthers moved within a half-game of Tampa Bay (6-4) for first place in the NFC South.
The 2013 season was the start of the Panthers’ playoff run under Ron Rivera, culminating in the Super Bowl season of 2015 when Newton was the MVP. Young doesn’t like talking about individual accolades. But he made an exception after breaking Newton’s mark of 432 yards, set in Newton’s second game (after going for 422 in his debut).
“It’s definitely an honor. I have so much respect for Cam for all that he has accomplished, the player he is,” Young said. “Individual awards, that’s not what I’m after. It doesn’t mean anything. I’m grateful that we won. We had the most important stat today and it was a win. That’s all that matters.”
