Bryce Young does something for the Panthers not equaled since MVP Cam Newton

Bryce Young just had a truly special day.

Jan 5, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) hands the ball off to running back Miles Sanders (6) against the Atlanta Falcons in the first quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The questions about whether Bryce Young can be or is the Carolina Panthers' franchise starter had really been answered before kickoff on Sunday. There shouldn't have been a shred of doubt, but if there was, he erased all of it. Lately, Young has piled up a few "career performances."

It's beginning to become the trend and not the outlier when he does that. On Sunday, he recorded over 250 and five touchdowns total. It was one of the best days any NFL QB has had this season, and it matched a feat no one's done in Carolina since Cam Newton won an MVP.

Bryce Young matches MVP Cam Newton

That was too cold, Bryce.@_bryce_young @StephenCurry30 pic.twitter.com/EZwArdAj1L

— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2025

It's been a while since the Carolina Panthers had a good quarterback. Bryce Young looks like one finally, but the first half of 2018 when Cam Newton was playing well was really the last time before now.

Young ended the 2024 season with a five-touchdown day, and that is something no Panthers QB has done since Newton. To make matters even more impressive, that hasn't been done since Week 15 of 2015.

Bryce Young is the first Panther QB with 5 Pass & Rush touchdowns in a game since Cam Newton in Week 15 of the 2015 season at the Giants

— David Newton (@DNewtonespn) January 5, 2025

Newton was firmly in his MVP year at that point, playing better than most quarterbacks have truly ever played. Young is not in that situation, and yet, he matched Newton on a day when the Atlanta Falcons genuinely had no answers.

Young fell just one yard shy of breaking Newton's record when he hit Jalen Coker with a pass down to the one-yard-line. A handoff to Miles Sanders ended it and Young's potential pursuit of history. He'd say he doesn't care and wants the win, and he'll have to settle for that and a performance reminiscent of the best player in Panthers history.

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