Bryce Young’s career night was clouded by costly early mistakes that loomed large in Week 2 loss to the Cardinals
Comeback attempt fell just short.
What was nearly a defining game for Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young turned into yet another 0-2 start but it’s worth taking the good with the bad in a game like this.
The Panthers’ Week 2 loss to the Arizona Cardinals came literally down to the wire, despite the Panthers trailing 27-3 at one point in the second-half.
The reason why the comeback attempt was even possible was because of a career-best performance by the Panthers’ young quarterback. The reason the comeback fell short falls partially on Young’s shoulders as well. Both statements can be true.
Early mistakes prevented Carolina from coming out of Week 2 with a win
The first mistake came on the opening drive of the game, just three plays into the Panthers’ first offensive possession. Faced with a third-and-seven, Jonathan Gannon’s unit dialed up the pressure and hit home, with Josh Sweat forcing a sack-fumble on Young that was returned for a touchdown.
To Young’s credit, he really had no time to even think about making a decision with the football, whether that’s throwing it away or forcing it to a receiver.
“I gotta give the Cardinals credit for coming out and playing hard,” head coach Dave Canales explained. “Really forcing the issue on some of those. And they had a good pressure plan. We were on our assignments, but we didn’t execute the assignments. And Bryce is in those situations.”
On the following drive, the pressure was dialed up again on third-and-11. Young was rocked by Mack Wilson Sr. just as he was releasing the football, leading to a interception for Baron Browning.
“Sometimes, it ain’t the worst thing if you’re in that situation to take a sack,” Canales added. “I also know, he makes some magical plays. I also know that he finds ways to find guys down the field. And that’s part of his game. But it’s all of us. It’s the mistakes that we have to continue to clean up.”
From that point on, Carolina was faced with a two-possession hole. Young and the offense, however, never threw in the towel and continued competing.
Young began dissecting the Cardinals’ soft zone coverage finishing the game with a career-high in completions (35), attempts (55), and passing yards (328) to go along with three touchdowns. From a pure passing standpoint, the final box score showed one of Young’s best outings of his career.
Yet, on the final drive, the pressure again caused some complications for the Panthers’ offense. Despite getting some help from some costly Arizona penalties, Young never completed a single pass on the team’s final offensive possession, that ended with an eight-yard sack on fourth down.
The poise and resilience from Young and the offense was still an encouraging sight in what could have easily been a blowout loss. Going forward, this team needs to avoid getting out to a big deficit caused by mistakes and clean up some of the pocket protection for Young.
“If you do right longer than the opponent, you give yourselves a chance to finish,” Canales added. “That’s what I saw out of the group: continuing to do right throughout the course of the game, fixing the things that we talked about early on, and finding execution.”
Sometimes, the early mistakes are just too much to overcome. Too little, too late. Such was the case for Carolina on Sunday and the team will now look to rebound against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3.
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