The Carolina Panthers faced a beatable New Orleans Saints team in Week 9 with the hopes of capturing win number two on the year. Second-year quarterback Bryce Young was back in the lineup for the second week in a row and wasn't playing terribly considering how bad he'd looked before his benching.
Young had thrown for a touchdown and had taken care of the football throughout the day until a Saints defender simply made an incredible play on the ball. Trailing 22-17 with a little over nine minutes remaining in the game, Young threw the ball to rookie receiver Xavier Legette.
At first, it looked like the rookie made a great play on the ball to help get Carolina the first down. On further review, however, Saints cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles ripped the ball away from Legette to give the Saints offense the ball back.
Even when Young does everything he needs to, things are still going against him. This is beyond frustrating for a team still hoping to salvage something out of their former first overall pick.
THIS PLAY! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/W8m90PunGG
— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024
Bryce Young does everything right but still gets burned on INT
To make matters worse, the Saints have very few healthy defenders in this game. Jean-Charles, the defender who ripped the ball away from Legette on this play, was signed to the Saints' active roster on Saturday, proving that Young can't win for losing.
Of course, the Panthers went on to take the lead later on but this was a moment where Carolina could have put the Saints away early.
Young hasn't looked awful in his second straight start, but it's worth noting that the Saints defense is all kinds of beat up. The good news is that he has played okay and kept his team in the game. This interception wasn't even his fault either so that's another good sign. He's not throwing atrocious interceptions like he was earlier in the year.
Let's hope this is maybe the beginning of Young starting to piece some things together in Carolina.