Bryce Young receives sterling grade for performance in duel with Mahomes, Chiefs

Matt Alquiza | 1 Hour Ago

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

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Carolina Panthers

Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers gave the defending champs everything they could handle for 59 and a half minutes.

It took a miraculous 35-yard scramble from Patrick Mahomes to ultimately seal the victory for the Kansas City Chiefs, but let that take nothing away from what Bryce Young did in the Queen City this afternoon.

He played like a number one overall pick, he went toe-to-toe with one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the sport, and he all but cemented his status as Carolina's QB1 for the rest of the 2024-25 NFL season. Bryce was cooking from the jump.

The sophomore quarterback continued his ascent up the NFL's quarterback hierarchy as he engineered three first half scoring drives against the vaunted Chiefs defense. Young was in complete control of Dave Canales' offense, delivering throws to all levels of the field in the most spectacular performance of his young career.

The key to Young's successful day was his handling of Steve Spagnuolo's über aggressive pass rush. On multiple occasions Young stood tall under the pressure bearing down on him and dropped downfield passes into the waiting arms of his rag tag bunch of receivers. The throw below, a seed to David Moore with multiple Chiefs defenders in his lap, is undoubtedly the most impressive throw Bryce Young has made as a professional.

Bryce Young currently has a season high 238 passing yards.pic.twitter.com/W4xjDaJAZJ
— IG: NFLPreme (@premefootball) November 24, 2024

His 263 yards are the second most he's amassed in his career. However, statistics be damned. Young announced his arrival as an NFL quarterback worth building around against the league's premier outfit in the close loss. It's a pyrrhic victory, but an important one nonetheless.

Bryce Young's grade

Young deserves an A for today's play. The only thing keeping him from a 4.0 GPA boosting A+ is his lack of success in the red zone (Carolina settled for four field goals within the Chiefs' 20-yard line). Another touchdown or two in the red area would have delivered Carolina a regime-defining upset win, but Canales, Dan Morgan and company will have to settle for moral victories following Sunday's contest.

Canales has played coy about who will start for his Panthers going forward, but the answer is clear. Bryce Young needs to be the starting quarterback for Carolina next week, the following week, and frankly, next year. His cutting up of the Chiefs's defense should be enough to convince Canales of his merits as a quarterback, and if it's not, I'm not sure what else Young needs to do to win this job long-term.