Bryce Young's clutch gene
Bryce Young has been involved in plenty of crucial moments. He always seems to thrive in the clutch.
The Carolina Panthers had another opportunity to win the game late. They were down four with a little over two minutes remaining. Young stayed calm and composed. He came through for his team in the biggest moment.
Young's calmness when the pressure is on continues to be a huge positive. He drove the Panthers downfield with immense purpose. This culminated in stepping up in the pocket before unleashing a touchdown strike to his favorite target, veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen, to send Bank of America Stadium into boundless delirium.
for the lead!
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 2, 2024
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/KiUrAKIe8R
He was in complete control. Young was undaunted by the magnitude of the moment. When the game is on the line, he steps up. This wasn't a one-off, there are several examples throughout his turbulent career that state this as fact.
Carolina is in good hands with Young. Especially when the stakes are highest.
Bryce Young's redemption arc grows
Bryce Young did nothing to diminish his redemption arc in this one. The signal-caller managed to grow it.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did everything possible to slow Young down. Todd Bowles threw exotic blitzes at the signal-caller in pursuit of causing panic. It seldom arrived, but converting red-zone chances into touchdowns made this game much closer than it needed to be.
That's the next challenge for Young and the Panthers. It can be fixed by improved play-calling at the business end of the field and better execution from the players at Dave Canales' disposal. Once this problem gets figured out, Carolina is going to be a difficult proposition to overcome.
Young is stacking good performances. This one got away from the Panthers when the result could have easily gone the other way. Being competitive is one thing. Coming through in close games and turning them into victories is another matter.
Make no mistake, this was not on Young. He was way down the list of reasons why the Panthers couldn't get the job done.
This is all part of the learning experience for Young and Canales. The Panthers are not too far away. If the signal-caller continues his productive output over the next five games, that should be enough for Carolina to give him another go-around in 2025.