Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was humming since his return to the starting lineup . . . until Week 15 happened.
Last Sunday’s 30-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys saw the former No. 1 overall pick commit a career-high four turnovers, as he tossed two interceptions and lost a pair of fumbles. So, this weekend’s outing against the Arizona Cardinals presented Young with a chance to get back on track . . . and he did.
Young excelled in the role of playmaker in Week 16, completing 17 of his 26 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns while adding another 68 yards and a score through the ground. Oh, and he didn’t give the ball away.
Head coach Dave Canales was asked for his thoughts about Young’s bounce-back performance.
“Yeah, he just played fast again,” he stated. “He was really decisive, you saw some of the scrambles early in the first half where he was able to pick up some critical downs for us there, and run one in for a touchdown. So it was about just being decisive, knowing where all the bones are buried and concepts and being able to get to the scramble when those windows open up for him. And again, just making some really nice throws when we needed him to.”
Reminiscent of another quarterback who played for the Panthers not too long ago, Young broke out for scrambles of 34 yards and 23 yards on the offense’s second possession of the afternoon. The 23-yarder wound up in the end zone, capping a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive.
He also used his arm, finding veteran wide receivers Adam Thielen and David Moore on a couple of beautiful touchdown throws later on in the contest.
Young, needless to say, was much happier at his post-game press conference this week than he was during his last.
“We won this week, so it’s a lot more fun in the locker room after the win,” he told reporters with a laugh.
He continued.
“I think this is big for us. We talked about this last part of the season being a great opportunity—just for us to finish, to set the tone for the future, kinda just lay the foundation of where we wanna go. It’s a week-to-week league. We’re just in this week, we can only do one week at a time. But just having that point of emphasis and then coming out and executing, having a great team win today.”
In his eight starts since returning under center in Week 8, Young has completed 61.1 percent of his passing attempts for 1,650 yards (206.6 yards per game), 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also rushed for three touchdowns in that span.
