For Panthers QB Kyle Allen, the journey has come full circle

The Panthers starter (for Sunday) has been waiting for this moment.

This past off-season, Carolina Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen did not even know if he was going to make the team. Now, he is preparing for his first-ever start on Sunday after coming in relief for Taylor Heinicke. It is almost as if his football journey is coming full circle.

Allen went 4-for-4 on the afternoon, averaging 9.5 yards per pass completion. In total, he threw for 38 yards and finished with a quarterback rating of 99. Allen finished the rest of Sunday’s game after Heinicke left the contest in the middle of the second quarter with an injury to his left elbow. Allen looked sharp, putting together a drive for the Panthers that ended in the red zone while Heinickie worked on fixing his elbow. Heinicke came back and replaced Allen, and the former promptly through an interception ending any positive momentum on the red zone drive.

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Even with the slight damper to finish the drive, it could not go unnoticed that Allen had a pretty good day all things considered. Now, he looks to take that momentum into the final week of the season when he faces off against to the New Orleans Saints on the road. Sounds like an easy task, right? I kid, if anything it is going to be probably one of the toughest challenges he he has ever faced in his football career. This is an important game for him here. If he can perform well on Sunday, there may be a quarterback controversy at the backup position heading into camp next year.

For now, Allen is not thinking about winning the backup quarterback position. Although he may have that mentality down the road, right now he is just focused on winning a football game on Sunday. It is that type of mentality that will get him far in the National Football League. Listening to his quotes, he sounds professional yet very excited. After the journey he has been through, I can’t really blame him.

"“I don’t want to make this game about me tying up job security, me making more money in the future,” said Allen. “For me right now, I just want to focus on getting a win for this team … I think that’s gonna pay well for us going into next season – Hopefully I’m here next season – Pay well for us, and just leave everyone on a good note going home.”"

I know you are not supposed to be a fan when you’re a sportswriter. However, as a writer focusing on the Panthers, I think I can put my objectivity away a bit here. I really hope he does well. He is very raw in terms of skill set but there is no doubt that there is something there. For this game, I would not expect a lot of deep passes down the field, rather a lot of screen passes and check downs. That is okay in my book. Let Kyle Allen get his first start out of the way and get some positive momentum heading into next season.

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His opportunity has come knocking. Here’s to hoping he makes the most of It.

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