Bryce Young is starting to look like a franchise player. The Carolina Panthers quarterback's performances since coming back into the starting lineup represent a remarkable change of pace. It seems like the signal-caller will get another shot in 2025 if the same trend continues down the stretch.
This is the best possible outcome for the Panthers considering the investment they made in Young at No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. There is still some work ahead for the Heisman Trophy winner, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Building on this positive momentum is crucial to avoid any unnecessary offseason speculation.
The Dallas Cowboys weren't planning on doing him any favors. Jerry Jones was confident his squad could dominate the matchup despite faltering yet again on primetime against the Cincinnati Bengals last time out. They're also not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, although a lot needs to go their way to achieve this unlikely objective.
Being competitive isn't good enough for Young — not when the Panthers have attained nothing but abject failure in recent years. Coping with the increased expectancy of being the favorite for the first time in 34 games was a different challenge.
As it turned out, Young and the Panthers couldn't live up to their billing as favorites and were soundly beaten by the Cowboys following their poorest performance in some time.
With this in mind, here are five major observations from Young's performance at Bank of America Stadium.
Major observations from Bryce Young's performance against the Cowboys
Bryce Young's accuracy
One of the biggest positives to emerge from Bryce Young's improved performance levels in recent weeks centers on his accuracy. The signal-caller is getting the football out on time and giving his receivers a chance to make plays. That's a far cry from his hesitant distribution as a rookie or before his Week 3 benching.
Young didn't have things easy versus the Dallas Cowboys. Mike Zimmer disguised coverages well and managed to create pressure consistently. The Mater Dei High School product didn't make every throw, but he was largely accurate overall.
There was one glaring error (we'll get to that later). Young eventually concluded the contest with a 67.86 completion percentage success. He missed some throws, but nobody's perfect. Besides, the accuracy being displayed by the player cannot be anything other than encouraging from a pretty decent sample size now.