CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After back-to-back losses to begin his NFL career, Bryce Young sat out a Week 3 trip to Seattle last year with a sprained ankle that many figured was more of a mental break for the No. 1 pick.
Well, the Carolina Panthers again are headed west in Week 3 coming off consecutive defeats — both much worse than last year’s — and it’s worth asking if Young could benefit from getting the week off.
Or longer.
With each loss, Young looks less and less like the answer at quarterback. The 5-foot-10, 2021 Heisman winner completed a respectable 18 of 26 passes Sunday in the 26-3 defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers. But those completions went for a paltry 84 yards, the fourth-lowest passing total in franchise history for a quarterback with at least 25 pass attempts.
Young looks overwhelmed. He’s jumping to make throws over pass rushers and seems scared to throw the ball downfield, probably because nothing good has happened when he’s done so. One of Young’s few downfield attempts was intercepted by safety Elijah Molden in a play that looked eerily similar to Young’s first-pass-of-the-season pick in the 47-10 embarrassment at New Orleans.
Fans booed loudly after Young’s interception Sunday, then booed after another third-down throw went short of the first-down marker. The crowd that featured Charlotte rapper DaBaby and several fans with bags on their heads booed as Panthers players left the field at halftime — with 15 1/2 games remaining.
They weren’t the only frustrated ones.
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Veteran receiver Adam Thielen lost his cool and began yelling on the sidelines after Young was sacked midway through the third quarter, when Thielen still hadn’t been targeted. He later apologized to Young, even though he said his “boiling over” moment wasn’t directed at Young specifically.
The Panthers’ receiving numbers looked like something from a middle school game.
Running back Chuba Hubbard led the team with four receptions … for 12 yards. Diontae Johnson had a team-high six targets, which resulted in the Molden interception and three receptions. Johnson’s longest catch covered 7 yards. Young’s longest completion was a 12-yarder to tight end Tommy Tremble on the first play of the second half.
Johnson was asked if he was surprised by the lack of downfield shots.
“We all are,” he said. “But it is what it is. We’re not the ones calling the plays. So our job is to go out there and execute every play that they call and put it on film.”
Coach Dave Canales stood up for Young when asked if he would start next week at Las Vegas.
“Bryce is our quarterback,” he said. “We’re going to just continue to shore up and fix the things we need to fundamentally from a scheme standpoint. These are all valuable reps. These are all valuable games. We’ll learn a lot from this game and hopefully we’ll take another step this week.”
Canales faces a tough decision when it comes to Young. Benching him in favor of Andy Dalton after two games would be an indictment of his offense and the scouting ability of general manager Dan Morgan, who was the assistant GM when the Panthers traded four draft picks (two firsts and two seconds) and wideout DJ Moore to the Chicago Bears to take Young with the first pick.
But Canales risks alienating the locker room and the fan base if he continues to play a quarterback who doesn’t give the Panthers the best chance at winning. If the fans were restless Sunday, the reception will be even ruder in a few weeks if the Panthers are still winless and Young is struggling.
Owner David Tepper will probably take the decision off Canales’ plate at that point. Some would encourage the Panthers to grit their teeth through a rough season to get the No. 1 pick. But losing the fans is what prompted Tepper to move on from Ron Rivera and Matt Rhule.
Fans were heard chanting expletives along with Tepper’s name and encouraging the hedge-fund billionaire to sell the team.
And the Panthers are in danger of turning every home game into a stadium takeover for visiting fans amid boobirds and fans with bags over their heads.
Fans at Bank of America Stadium are turning on the Panthers, especially after their performance Sunday against the Chargers. (Bob Donnan / USA Today)
The Panthers dropped their first two games this year by a combined 60 points, the second-largest differential in consecutive losses in team history. When the Panthers were playing out the string in 2019 after Rivera was fired, the Panthers lost to the Indianapolis Colts 38-6 before falling to the New Orleans Saints 42-10 in the season finale.
The QBs in those games were Kyle Allen and Will Grier, an undrafted free agent and third-round selection — not the No. 1 pick taken just ahead of C.J. Stroud. While Young was tossing passes at or near the line of scrimmage, Sam Darnold — the starter for the Panthers’ 2022 resurgence under Steve Wilks — was leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 23-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
With a 97-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson, Darnold in one play surpassed Young’s passing total for the day. Darnold and Baker Mayfield, another ex-Carolina QB, are both 2-0 to start the season.
Canales pointed to third down as the source of the offensive problems. The Panthers converted 1-of-12 third-down chances and are 2-of-22 on the season. It would help if those third-down plays featured passes to receivers standing beyond the first-down marker.
“Just make sure we’re challenging the sticks,” Canales said. “Some of it was by design and the plays come off how they will. But in general we had opportunities on both sides on third down to make plays, and it comes down to making plays.”
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Canales called parts of the second half as though the Panthers were leading 23-3, not trailing by that score. Late in the third quarter, the Panthers went run-run-pass, then punted on fourth-and-2 from their 25. In fairness, the run game was the only thing that was working: Hubbard averaged 6.4 yards on 10 carries.
But this is a passing league, and Canales’ vision was a strong rushing attack making things easier for Young with play-action and bootlegs. Canales keeps saying it takes time to “become us,” but there’s been little evidence this can be a competent offense with Young running it.
“I love Bryce to death, man,” said Thielen, who finished with two catches for 20 yards. “He works his butt off. He’s a great player. This is not a Bryce Young issue. This is an offensive, team issue. We are all in this together.
“There is no individual on this offense that is to blame. It’s a collective thing. I’m excited about where we can go. But we need to figure out a way to have urgency to get that done.”
It all sounds and looks a lot like last year, and we know how that ended. Something or someone has to give.
(Top photo of Joey Bosa and Bryce Young: David Jensen / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
