By Dennis Cox
54 yards isn’t going to cut it: 54. That’s how many passing yards Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young threw for in the 27-10 Week 17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. That’s not 54 yards on a winning drive, or in a quarter, or on a long completion. That’s for the entire game. For a quarterback. Who was the number 1 overall pick in 2023. That’s simply not good enough. And those 54 yards came on 24 attempts for a measly 2.3 yards per attempt.
Was Tetairoa McMillan sick? Sure. Was the play calling by Dave Canales poor and inconsistent? Yes. But franchise quarterbacks elevate the players around them, especially when the game isn’t going your way. Franchise quarterbacks help dig their teams out of the hole and drag them into the fight. We didn’t see that against Seattle.
Young hasn’t thrown for 200-plus yards in consecutive games this season, the offense hasn’t scored 20-plus points in back-to-back games since Weeks 5 and 6, and in a game where Carolina could clinch the NFC South and make the playoffs, he played arguably his worst game of the season.
Defense didn’t get help, but they didn’t help themselves: There’s plenty to look at regarding the Panthers offense and how poorly they played, but the defense missed chances, too. On the first offensive play for Seattle, DJ Wonnum deflected a Sam Darnold pass that went right to the hands of Jaycee Horn, but Horn couldn’t hold on to it. At worst, the Panthers are in the red zone and staring a points with the chance to grab momentum early in the game.
Later in the first quarter, Wonnum whiffed on an open field tackle of Seahawks RB Zach Charbonnet on a 3rd & 15, which leads to a 25-yard run to midfield, and Seattle gets a field goal on the drive.
Early in the second half after a Chuba Hubbard fumble gave the ball to Seahawks at the Panthers 21 yard line (which was one play after Mike Jackson had an interception in the red zone), LB Claudin Cherelus had the chance for an open field tackle on third down that would’ve stopped the Seahawks from gaining a first down, but missed on the tackle which allowed Seattle to extend their drive, and later got a Charbonnet TD to make it 10-3. Another missed tackle leading to points.
And in the fourth quarter with the Panthers down 17-10 and the Seahawks facing 3rd & 21 from their own 34 yard line with just over ten minutes to play, Darnold found WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a short completion on the left sideline in front of Horn, who only needed to run Smith-Njigba out of bounds to force a fourth-down and likely punt by Seattle. Instead, Horn grabbed the facemask, extending the drive for the Seahawks, allowing Seattle to burn more clock and later kick a field goal to take a 20-10 lead with just 5:33 to play.
Another mistake equating to more points. But let’s be fair, the only time the Seahawks scored touchdowns was when Seattle started their drive in Carolina territory, twice off turnovers, and once off of a turnover on downs.
Nic Scourton is getting better week after week: I don’t want the loss to overshadow how good OLB/Edge Nic Scourton is and is going to be for a long time for this team. Scourton turned 21 AFTER the final preseason game in late August, and he had one of the best plays on the afternoon for Carolina. His second quarter strip sack of Sam Darnold gave the Carolina the ball at the Seattle 26, which later resulted in a field goal to tie the game. He’s only going to get better, and was a heck of a find in the 2nd-round of the 2025 NFL Draft by general manager Dan Morgan.