NFL Winners and Losers: Bryce Young falls flat and Panthers get embarrassed by Saints

Hopefully David Tepper didn’t have any drinks nearby on Sunday. Or anything else the Carolina Panthers owner could throw in anger.

The Panthers spent and spent this offseason to improve after going 2-15 last season. They hired a new coach, Dave Canales. They improved the team around quarterback Bryce Young. And nothing was different.

The Panthers’ renewed optimism was burned to the ground before halftime of the season opener. They trailed the New Orleans Saints 30-0 before their season was even two quarters old. Young, who struggled badly as a rookie after being the first overall pick following the Panthers’ monster trade to go up and get him, threw a bad interception on his first pass of the season. He threw a worse interception to start the second half, throwing well past an open Adam Thielen. The Saints turned that interception into a touchdown and a 37-3 lead. At that point Young’s line was horrific: 6 of 14, 50 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a nearly impossible 13.1 passer rating. Young padded his stats a bit after the game was completely out of hand, and the Saints rolled to a 47-10 win. Young finished 13 of 30 for 161 yards.

If Young wasn’t the first pick of last year’s draft, there would probably be talk of benching him. Canales is one game into his NFL head coaching career and because his owner is so impatient, he has to be a little worried about how long he’ll get if Sunday’s result is what we can expect the rest of this season.

One game isn’t enough to make any conclusions. But the Panthers’ performance was so bad, it’s hard to not think the worst. Especially since Carolina was the worst team in the NFL last season and Young was dreadful. The Panthers spent more than $150 million on two guards in free agency, drafted a receiver in the first round and a running back and tight end in the early rounds, traded for receiver Diontae Johnson and made other additions, and it all looks like a waste. Tepper isn’t patient in any situation, and you have…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-09-08 20:14:03

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