Young's Panthers-record 448 in win eases pain

ATLANTA -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was writhing in pain as he clutched his right ankle -- the one that forced him to miss a game earlier this season -- in the first quarter of Sunday's 30-27 overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Coach Dave Canales and teammates were out on the field on a knee wondering if Young would return, particularly after athletic trainers took him straight to the locker room.

Young returned -- and then turned in a career day.

The No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft, his ankle heavily taped, passed for a franchise-record 448 yards and three touchdowns. He drove the Panthers in position for the game-winning field goal in overtime thanks to a short pass that tight end Tommy Tremble turned into 54-yard gain. He almost single-handedly helped Carolina improve to 6-5 and move a half-game behind the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-4).

Afterward, Young didn't hide the amount of pain he was in.

"Pain is an accurate way to sum it up,'' Young said. 'You just breathe through the pain.''

Teammates marveled that Young returned.

"I saw him come back into the game,'' said wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who had eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. ''I'm like, 'Hey, you good?' He's like, 'Yeah!' I'm like, 'Well, next time get your ass up.'

"He's always level-headed. The moment is never too big. He's built for moments like this one."

After a 17-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints a week ago, when the Saints shut down the run and dared him to beat them, some questioned Young for whether he had a moment this big. While he didn't light it up with deep shots, his 36-yards touchdown pass to a struggling Xavier Legette on the first drive of the second half ended a streak of 0-for-5 on passes of 30-plus yards and started the comeback.

In the end, he topped Cam Newton's single-game Panthers record of 432 yards passing, set in 2011 during a Week 2 game against the Green Bay Packers.

"Definitely honored,'' Young said of breaking Newton's record. "I have so much respect for Cam, all that he's accomplished. Hearing that is definitely an honor."

But, Young reminded: "Individual awards, that's not what I'm after. They don't mean anything. I'm grateful that we won. We had the most important stat, that we won."

It all kept the Panthers in position for a winning season and a shot at the playoffs for the first time since 2017, the year before owner David Tepper purchased the team. The schedule gets tougher. Carolina's next two games are against the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, both contenders. But they also have two games remaining against the Buccaneers, so players knows anything is possible now.

"That's exactly the vision and the dream that I hoped for, that if we played complementary football for a long time we'll put ourselves in position for the finish,'' Canales said of being in this position.

That Young finished after the injury didn't surprise Canales because he's seen that resiliency in his quarterback since he took over the team last season.

"He gave me a thumbs up and said, 'I'm good,'" Canales said of seeing Young walk back onto the field without missing a series. "So that's good enough for me.''

It was a scary moment when Young went down after Falcons corner Billy Bowman Jr. stepped hard on the ankle that Young first injured in a win against the New York Jets.

"I was very upset,'' right tackle Taylor Moton said. "It hurt my heart to see when he didn't get back up immediately. ... But he's tough, tough as nails. I've never questioned his toughness.''

Running back Rico Dowdle was particularly upset because he felt responsible for missing Bowman.

"What was going through my mind was, 'F---, I can't believe I let that happen,' '' he said. "When they told me he was good, I was like, 'I won't let it happen again.'"