After wild season, Panthers should have let Bryce Young score game-winning TD

Bryce Young deserved that last touchdown.

Jan 5, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) on the field prior to the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Bryce Young led the Carolina Panthers to a huge, season-ending win over the Atlanta Falcons. A win by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a few moments earlier eliminated the Falcons from the playoffs, but the Panthers came in needing to win if they wanted to spoil Atlanta's season.

Thanks to a truly terrific performance from Young, the Panthers won 44-38, their second walk-off overtime win in the last three weeks. Young had five touchdowns, one shy of the franchise record. With the ball at the one-yard-line to close it out, Young handed it to Miles Sanders. The play should've been for Young.

Bryce Young deserved that final touchdown

Let's preface this by saying that a win is great and there's no complaining about that. It's just that what Bryce Young did in the lead-up to that ultimate play warranted at least one more chance at the record and a career day against the Falcons.

The penultimate play involved Young doing his best Patrick Mahomes impression. He rolled out and got to his left and waited patiently for something to come open. As defenders closed in, he flipped it over the top to Jalen Coker like it was a baseball.

Bryce Young pulling out his best Patrick Mahomes with that flip to Coker.

— David Newton (@DNewtonespn) January 5, 2025

If not for a terrific defensive play to keep Coker from stretching it out, that would've ended it in a fitting fashion. Instead, the Panthers needed one more yard, and Sanders delivered. It just would've been really fun to see Young do it again and bury the Falcons himself after he did the majority of the digging. It wraps a tumultuous season on a high note, just one that could've been a little higher.

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