CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bryce Young is beginning to show signs he can perform in the clutch.
Now the Carolina Panthers (3-9) just have to figure out how to win close games as a team.
Young capped a 60-yard touchdown drive on Sunday with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen to briefly give the Panthers a 23-20 lead with 30 seconds left against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And the second-year quarterback was in the process of engineering a potential winning score in overtime when Chuba Hubbard fumbled at the Bucs 29, leading to Tampa Bay’s 26-23 win.
It was the second time in two weeks the much-maligned No. 1 pick in last year’s draft showed a knack for making big plays when it mattered most, which has some observers calling him “Alabama Bryce” as he begins to resemble the QB the Heisman Trophy winner he was in college.
The previous week, Young rallied the Panthers from 11 points down against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, tying the game with 1:35 left in regulation with a TD drive and 2-point conversion. However, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs back down the field for the winning field goal.
“I thought he played great,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said of Young. “I thought he made some critical throws in critical situations. He got us out of some bad ones. Threw the ball away a couple times. It was an aggressive day. They blitzed a lot. He handled it well again and gave us a chance to win for sure on those last couple of drives.”
What’s working
The Panthers are moving the ball well at times, but have struggled over the last two weeks in the red zone, going just 3 of 10 against Kansas City and Tampa Bay. It didn’t help on Sunday that Eddy Pineiro, who entered as the league’s most accurate field goal kicker of all time, missed two second-quarter field goals.
What needs help
Carolina came into Sunday’s game ranked last in the league in run defense and the Bucs took full advantage. Bucky Irving ran for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown and Rachaad White added 76 yards on the ground as Tampa Bay piled up 235 yards rushing while averaging 6.1 yards per carry. The Panthers desperately miss defensive lineman Derrick Brown and linebacker Shaq Thompson, both of whom suffered season-ending injuries early in the year.
