Bryce Young goes toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes in a down-to-the-wire finish

Rapid reactions to the Panthers' loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Moral victories aren't really a thing in the NFL, but the Carolina Panthers have to be extremely happy with how competitive they were Sunday afternoon against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Here are a few of my initial thoughts on the Panthers' 30-27 loss.

Bryce Young's best game in the NFL

For the last several weeks, Panthers head coach Dave Canales has held off from naming the starting quarterback for the next game for as long as he possibly can. Even after winning two straight games heading into the bye week, he neglected to name Young the starter immediately after the win in Germany over New York.

I think it's safe to say that after today's performance, he's the guy moving forward. Even if he wasn't as sharp, it probably makes the most sense to continue to roll him out there to see what you have in him so that Dan Morgan knows what he needs to do in the offseason.

Young looked like a completely different quarterback today compared to what we've seen over the past year and a half. He threw the ball with conviction, went through his progressions, put good zip on the ball, put it where only his guy could get it and made good decisions with the football all afternoon long. That touchdown to David Moore in the third quarter was a thing of beauty.

He finished the game completing 21-of-35 passes for 262 yards and a touchdown. The day he had last Christmas Eve against Green Bay was impressive, but this, in my opinion, was his best game, considering it came against the No. 5 defense in the league. He went toe to toe with the best quarterback in the game and made big plays in crunch time. It doesn't get any more impressive than that.

Where was Jonathon Brooks?

The rookie running back made his NFL debut after missing the first ten games of the season recovering from an ACL tear that he suffered last year at Texas. Canales said earlier in the week that Brooks wouldn't be on a pitch count, but he was nearly non-existent on offense. He had just two carries for seven yards. I didn't expect him to come right in and run the ball ten or twelve times, but I thought he'd have maybe half of that and a catch or two.

How about David Moore?

With Jalen Coker (quad) ruled out, the Panthers needed someone to step up and help compliment Xavier Legette and Adam Thielen. Moore did that, and then some. He had his best single-game performance since he caught four passes for 95 yards in 2021 against the Miami Dolphins. He came up big seemingly every time the Panthers needed to move the sticks or punch it in the end zone. A nice breakout game for the veteran.

The Panthers will be back at home again next Sunday to play host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Kickoff is set for 4:05 p.m. EST.

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