Grading Panthers QB Bryce Young’s performance against the Saints: A solid outing in a win

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The Carolina Panthers (2-7) hadn’t won a game on Mint Street in 322 days.

But on Sunday, with their 2023 first overall pick, QB Bryce Young, leading the offense, the Panthers finally defeated a team on their home turf, one-upping the New Orleans Saints (2-7) — their NFC South division rivals — in a back-and-forth 23-22 win at Bank of America Stadium.

Carolina was down by five points with 4:15 left in the fourth quarter, and instead of the common cowering against a relatively lowly opponent, Young and head coach Dave Canales put forth enough offensive production to earn the team’s second win of the campaign, matching last year’s win total in nine games.

Young, who returned to the starting lineup last week in Denver, boosted his stock with a steady performance behind a makeshift offensive line that was missing left tackle Ikem Ekwonu. With fill-in starting center Brady Christensen working the blindside, and backup center Cade Mays filling in for Christensen (who was filling in for injured starter Austin Corbett), Young was able to lead the offense on four scoring drives.

Ultimately, Young won the game on a touchdown-scoring drive that was largely anchored by him. He completed a huge pass to rookie Xavier Legette and drew a drive-enhancing pass-interference penalty to eventually clinch the win with a rushing touchdown by Chuba Hubbard with 2:18 left in the game.

Panthers QB Bryce Young’s stats vs. Saints:

Young led four scoring drives, completing 16 of 26 passes for 171 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He had a passer rating of 77.6 and ran for 10 yards. He was sacked once.

Young’s accuracy grade

Young’s first two drives were largely forgettable, as the offense stalled due to pretty unimaginative third-down play calling by Canales. But the offense was gifted excellent field position on the unit’s third series by the defense and special teams units.

Set up at the New Orleans 40-yard line, Young started to get into a groove. He hit veteran wideout David Moore over the middle for a third-down conversion before going back to the air for his two rookies, Legette and Jalen Coker. Young stepped up in the pocket and made a nice out-route throw to Coker, who churned up the field for a gain of 18 yards. Two plays later, Young hit a leaping Legette for a 3-yard touchdown completion to give the Panthers a 7-6 lead following a successful extra-point attempt.

Young and the offense got another excellent setup at the New Orleans 28-yard line for the final drive of the half. Unfortunately for Young and the Panthers, the QB was nearly picked off on a throw down the field that was meant for Moore. Young lofted a ball to the left sideline, Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor got a hand on the ball and nearly hauled it in for a pick. Ultimately, though, the ball fell to the ground for an incompletion. The Panthers eventually settled for a 48-yard field goal from kicker Eddy Piñeiro.

Young finished the first half with a 76.9% completion percentage. While he didn’t offer up a lot of explosive plays, he did open up his passing range from his outing in Denver. He completed four passes of 11 yards or more during the first half, with Coker leading the pass-catching group with 36 yards on two catches.

Young made a nice quick throw to tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for a big play. While Sanders did most of the work on the 46-yard catch-and-run, which included a huge hurdle over Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu, Young got the ball where the tight end could push upfield. Young looked to have a deep shot touchdown to Moore, but Taylor — Young’s major nemesis in both matchups between the teams this year — knocked the ball out of the wideout’s hands. Young then shrugged that off and hit Sanders, the rookie tight end, for a 21-yard gain.

Young’s first and only turnover on the day wasn’t really his fault. He floated a beautiful, lofted throw down the right sideline for an injured Legette and the ball was stripped from the ailing left wrist of the rookie wideout by cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles for the turnover.

Despite the earlier hiccup by Legette, Young went back to the rookie on the final drive of the game, hitting him for an excellent completion over the middle for 26 yards. That was followed by a 22-yard pass interference penalty on the Saints during a downfield target to Sanders. Those two chunk plays set up the game-winning touchdown score.

Grade: B

Young’s awareness/decision-making grade

Young had a couple of stumbles in the first half. Along with the late-second quarter near-pick, he also had an oddly placed throw to running back Miles Sanders in the flat during the first drive. While the play call left a lot to be desired and the Panthers were called for an illegal formation penalty, which was declined, the throw didn’t lead Sanders well and the running back was dropped for a 7-yard loss.

Young did a nice job of being patient in the pocket in the first half. He made a couple of really good reads in traffic, but also took a pretty notable sack on the final drive of the first half with no one open. He also had a pair of passes that Taylor, the Saints’ most talented cornerback left uninjured, almost took away.

The first two quarters were a mixed bag, but it felt like Young was seeing the field relatively well.

Young leaned heavily on rookie Ja’Tavion Sanders on the first drive of the second half. He did a nice job of leading the tight end, both in the flat and down the field, as he picked up gains of 46 and 21 yards on the touchdown-scoring series. Those big plays anchored a drive that started on the Carolina 14-yard line.

Young’s follow-up drive didn’t go as well as he had a check-down on third down to Miles Sanders that ended up way behind the sticks. Young needed to get the ball out, but he didn’t have a shot at picking up a new set of downs.

Again, the pick in the fourth quarter wasn’t on him. He gave Legette every chance to come up with a huge play down the field. The completion would have put the Panthers in scoring territory. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Legette couldn’t hang onto the ball and Jean-Charles made a heck of a play.

Young had another rough moment on third down late in the fourth quarter. He had a wide-open outlet pass to Ja’Tavion Sanders out of a triple receiver formation but instead chose to float to the other side of the field. He ultimately threw the ball away and the Panthers were forced to punt.

Young picked up huge chunks of yards on the final scoring series. He connected with Legette for 26 yards and got a 22-yard flag on the defense for pass interference before a rushing touchdown by Chuba Hubbard. However, Young and the offense had back-to-back blunders after the score with a delay-of-game penalty and a failed two-point conversion.

Young finished the win with seven targeted receivers. His top weapon was Ja’Tavion Sanders, who caught four passes for 87 yards. Coker had two catches for 36 yards and Legette had four catches for 33 yards and a touchdown.

Grade: B

Young’s mobility grade

Young had a designed roll-out throw on the opening play of the game. His speed at getting around the corner and releasing the ball quickly and accurately was encouraging. He connected with Moore for a 9-yard gain. Young also didn’t stay static in the pocket early, which helped him prolong some plays to mixed results.

His lone scramble of the first half came on a 3-yard trot to the sideline.

Young got a bit more mobile on the first series of the second half. While in the red zone, he nearly ran for a touchdown on a 9-yard scramble. He was stopped at the 1-yard line. But the run set up a touchdown run by Hubbard.

He finished with 9 rushing yards on four carries. He was sacked once for 5 lost yards.

Grade: C+

Young’s turnover/big play grade

While Young was nearly picked off twice in the first half, he also took some shots that had escaped him early in his career. In his 20th NFL start, Young flexed some of his downfield playmaking ability, connecting with Coker for a pair of 18-yard completions. He also tossed up a waterfall-like throw to the left sideline for a 15-yard gain to a leaping Ja’Tavion Sanders.

The biggest play of the first half for the Panthers, though, was 3-yard TD toss to Legette, whom Young found for a leaping grab.

Young nearly had a highlight-reel connection to Legette, but the stripped interception by Jean-Charles will instead go on his resume. It was one of those picks that really doesn’t deserve to be on his stat line, similar to a coverage sack or a QB not getting the ball out quickly and taking a sack for the offense line.

Young nearly had a couple of picks on his own, but oddly enough, the one pick he had was not on him at all.

The final-series throw to Legette and the pass interference target were massive plays on the final drive as well.

Grade: C+

Young’s overall grade vs. New Orleans

The final score aside, Young had a productive and steady day, which given the low bar of his previous three starts was a noticeable upgrade in performance. Young looked accurate and mostly decisive in his targets. He benefited from a bit of luck with some would-be picks, but he was also unlucky with the one interception he did have.

Young managed the offense, made a couple of big throws and didn’t put the ball in harm’s way often. Last week, The Observer said Young lacked fire on the field, and against New Orleans he showed some swagger and gunslinging potential.

Young wasn’t perfect. He had his share of blunders, and this wasn’t always an easy one to watch. But against a division rival, he made enough plays to warrant consideration for future starts. Andy Dalton is recovering from a thumb injury — he had tape on his right thumb on the sideline — but there is just one more game before the bye week, a Munich, Germany, matchup against the lowly New York Giants (2-7).

Perhaps Young should get the opportunity to bring a win home overseas.

Overall grade (win curve): B