Bryce Young and Tetairoa McMillan force Panthers back into playoff race with one play that shows off their growing connection
The Carolina Panthers QB-WR duo shined in the biggest moment.
The Carolina Panthers sent a message to the rest of the NFL on Sunday with one of the biggest upsets of the season knocking down the red-hot Los Angeles Rams.
As big of a win as it was, how the Panthers won that game is even more remarkable. Carolina went shot-for-shot with one of the league’s best offensive units with a balanced attack. The run game was dominant with Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle, forcing the defense to move up, which then allowed quarterback Bryce Young to hurt Los Angeles even more over the top.
Young finished the game with three touchdown passes of 30+ yards, including two that came on fourth down, showing the aggressiveness of head coach Dave Canales and the confidence he had in his young play makers.
A to Z NFL’s Kyle Crabbs broke down one of those plays for us, which happened to be Young’s fourth quarter dagger to rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
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The Panthers dialed up a pair of deep crosses downfield on a short-yardage call, going under center on fourth down to sell play action and help slow down Los Angeles’ terrorizing defensive front. The play action did just enough to slow the get-off of pass rushers like DT Braden Fiske, who would go on to attack the outside half of OT Taylor Moton on the play and get ridden past the peak of the pocket.
In reality, the Rams dropped out of a pressure look to only rush three players — with Jared Verse playing a shallow hook instead of rushing on this deciding play. The lack of committed rushers allowed quarterback Bryce Young to reach the top of his drop and survey both deep crossers between Xavier Legette and McMillan. Young did an excellent job on his throwing platform to look left to Legette first, moving the free safety out of the middle of the field with his eyes. Once the free safety pinned to Legette, Young popped back to his right to lay a ball upfield for McMillan.
In coverage on the play was cornerback Emmanuel Forbes, who, in avoiding getting picked on the deep cross from Legette, hastily worked into the upfield hip of McMillan as his eyes worked back to the quarterback. He misread the ball in the air, looking to undercut the cross while McMillan spiked up the field to adjust to Young’s placement of the football.
Credit to Young for his manipulation of the deep post player, and credit to McMillan for anticipating a ball throw to space and correctly tracking and adjusting to the football. It won them this game.
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KN: Way back in training camp, Panthers head coach Dave Canales could see the deep shot potential growing between his quarterback and his rookie first-round wide receiver saying he loved “the chemistry they’re developing.”
While the deep passing game in Carolina has developed slowly, there’s no denying the chemistry Young and McMillan showed from the first game of the season. There’s a reason this guy is the Offensive Player of the Year front-runner and this duo sent a statement with that kind of play.
“Shoot it was fourth down, I had to make a play, or somebody had to make a play,” McMillan said in the locker room. “I’m just fortunate enough that the ball came to me and we were able to take the lead from there… The fact that two touchdowns happened on fourth down, it just speaks to the confidence that we have in our room and in our offense, as well as the confidence that Bryce has in us to make plays.”
That’s exactly the kind of confidence the Panthers need to continue stacking. Backed by a strong run game, connecting on these kind of deep shots allowed Carolina to not only keep up with, but outscore, the hottest offense in the league. It’s a great sign of things to come for the Panthers with eyes set on securing a playoff spot, or even a division title, with four games remaining.
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