Grading Bryce Young's rough performance in week two against the Chargers

Matt Alquiza | Sep 15, 2024

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Week two was more of the same from Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers offense. More incompletions, more turnovers, more discomfort in the pocket, and more questions about the Panthers long-term plan at quarterback.

Before we delve deeper into the negative from Young's performance, it's worth crediting his leadership and demeanor on the sideline. After the offense's fifth three and out in eight attempts, Young was seen encouraging his teammates on the bench. It would be easy for the sophomore quarterback to slump his shoulders, mope, and bury his head in a Microsoft Surface tablet, but he continuously uplifted his teammates in the midst of yet another disappointing performance.

Now for the bad, which is pretty much everything else. With Bryce Young under center, the Panthers have no vertical passing presence on offense. The Carolina quarterback delivered a consistent diet of throws to the flats, and on his lone downfield attempt in the first half Young was intercepted by Elijah Molden of the Chargers. He ended the game 18 of 26 passing for 84 yards and an interception, getting sacked once. Through two games Young is 31 of 56 passing, throwing for 245 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions.

Boo birds rained down after Young missed an open Diontae Johnson on a second-and-long and threw short of the sticks on third down on successive plays near the end of the third quarter. It's hard to blame the frustrated fans. Carolina Panthers supporters are on year six of watching an offense that can't move the ball. Is Bryce Young a part of that problem? Of course. But anemic offense is a long-term, systemic issue in Charlotte that needs some sort of divine intervention to fix at this point. The offense was one for 13 on third down attempts, one for four on fourth down attempts, and continued the disturbing trend of being one of the worst offenses in recent NFL history.

At this point, there isn't much else to say about Bryce Young. With each passing week it becomes increasingly more clear that he is unable to run an NFL offense at a high level. Like week one, Young completed passes and boosted his stats when the game was out of hand, but the Panthers quarterback has yet to move the ball in competitive scenarios through two weeks of football.

At what point do Dan Morgan and Dave Canales cut their losses and move on from Young? The massive investment made to trade up to number one overall in 2023 and select Bryce Young looms large over the franchise, tying them to a quarterback that has played one above average NFL game in seventeen starts.

For his performance this week, Young gets another F, giving him a 0.0 GPA through two weeks. It's a sad state of affairs in Carolina, as the team has been outscored 63-13 through two weeks. The issues run deep for a Panthers team that is 2-17 since the beginning of last season, but they start under center. Bryce Young needs to be better going forward, and at this point, every game he starts for the Panthers is one where he's fighting for his NFL future.

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