Bryce Young's confidence in the pressure cooker
No moment is too great for Bryce Young. The Carolina Panthers haven't been this close to winning the NFC South for a decade. That would typically signal nervousness and increased hesitancy. But for the cerebral signal-caller, it was just another day at the office.
The bigger the stakes, the better Young performs. That was the case in college at Alabama, and it's starting to look like the same trend will continue in the pros. Confidence is everything, and after the worst possible start to his NFL journey, the 2023 first-rounder is finally starting to display the traits capable of being Carolina's answer under center for the foreseeable future.
There is a different swagger about Young these days. He is not the finished article by any stretch, and he will likely have restrictions throughout his time in the league. But the belief is right where it needs to be, and everyone is feeding off it.
Once there are some further tweaks to his game this offseason, and general manager Dan Morgan bolsters the weapons at his disposal, Year 4 is when fans could finally see the version of Young they'll get for the rest of the way. Until then, the confidence and conviction he displayed in such a pressurized setting were immensely pleasing.
Bryce Young couldn't have done much more
With the Carolina Panthers struggling to get much going on the ground, the onus was firmly placed on quarterback Bryce Young's shoulders. And in truth, he couldn't have done much more for his team.
Young tried everything. His creativity became his biggest strength. Not every play came off, but the signal-caller was relentless in pursuit of victory. And with Baker Mayfield doing precisely the same for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it made for an enthralling, tense end to the contest.
The Panthers don't have the same prolific weapons as Tampa Bay. That was pretty evident from early on, but it didn't stop the Heisman Trophy winner from keeping this contest close down the stretch. That allowed him to do what he does best: come through in the clutch.
Young did his part, getting the Panthers downfield for a field goal. And just when it looked like Mayfield was about to do the same, he threw an errant pass that fell into the hands of Carolina's rookie safety Lathan Ransom.
And the Panthers have sole custody of the NFC South once again.
Young was outstanding. He drove his team forward when nothing else seemed to be clicking. And when it mattered, the complementary football came to the fore.