Bryce Young has gone through a rollercoaster of epic proportions this season. The Carolina Panthers quarterback is improving, but he's nowhere near the finished article just yet. His lackluster showing against the Dallas Cowboys was proof of how much hard work is ahead this offseason.
The Panthers should give Young another year based on the sample size since his return to the starting lineup. Nothing is guaranteed despite head coach Dave Canales keeping faith with the signal-caller. Leaving no doubt with a strong end to the campaign is crucial.
Young and the Panthers were aiming to conclude their regular-season home engagements with success over the Arizona Cardinals. There was no pressure on Carolina — that was all on the visitors given their ambitions to make the postseason. Even so, the Heisman Trophy winner had to play with a sense of freedom and aggression en route to a potential bounce-back at Bank of America Stadium.
As it turned out, Young looked more like his old self and the Panthers knocked the Cardinals out of playoff contention with a surprising win in their home finale.
With this in mind, here are five major observations from Young's performance versus the Cardinals as Carolina brought the curtain down on its home fixtures in 2024.
Major observations from Bryce Young's performance in Week 16
Bryce Young's mobility
Bryce Young's ability to gain yards on the ground is underrated. His lack of size probably dictates that, but he took advantage of the Arizona Cardinals not respecting this part of his game enough.
When Young had chances to take off, he took them. The quarterback also managed to break off big gains without a spy monitoring him at the defensive second level. This was an encouraging trait that the Carolina Panthers could potentially put to better use moving forward.
Dave Canales needs to pick and choose his spots. Young isn't Cam Newton, so limiting the contact he gets would be wise. However, this isn't a bad tool to have in the offense's arsenal.
Young eventually finished the game with 68 rushing yards and a score from five carries. This gave Arizona's defense plenty to think about, which opened things up more in the passing game for good measure.