The Carolina Panthers delivered a statement win on Sunday, traveling to Philadelphia to beat the Eagles 25-14. Despite the Eagles being depleted, their defense remains talented, and the Panthers controlled the game.
Carolina won the time-of-possession battle 34:48 to 25:12 and outgained the Eagles 399 to 222. Legendary defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and his unit struggled to find answers against the Panthers ‘ skill-position players.
Still, one thing about quarterback Bryce Young stuck out to Fangio and drew his ire.
No Call
Early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers led 13-7 and drove to put the game out of reach for an anemic Eagles offense. On fourth and one near the goal line, head coach Dave Canales had the Panthers line up and try to draw a false start. Bryce Young got Moro Ojomo to jump, giving the Panthers a first down.
However, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio had a gripe with the play and what he believed was a no-call on a false start by Young. Anthony Dibona posted a clip on Twitter of Fangio discussing the alleged false start at his Wednesday press conference.
“They let the quarterback get away with a really egregious false start on his part, but that’s the way it goes.”
Chuba Hubbard then followed up the gifted first down with a one-yard touchdown run. Whether Young false-started or not is up for debate, but what is not up for debate is that Young is having more fun than ever this season.
Growing Confidence
Bryce Young’s path to success hasn’t been linear in the NFL. At one point, he was benched for Andy Dalton, and his confidence dwindled, but Young has built himself back up and is starting to develop into the Heisman Trophy-winning, number one pick the Panthers drafted him to be.
The biggest difference for Young is that he’s having fun, and his confidence is growing with each start. Darin Gantt of Panthers.com wrote in his October 21 article that Young is getting more comfortable, and his teammates, such as veteran wide receiver David Moore, are taking notice.
“I think he’s just believing in his game a lot more than what he brings to the NFL, which is a lot, and he’s showing it now,” Moore said. “He’s been showing spurts of it, and now it’s just going to become a thing where it’s like, all right, BY, this is what you expected because you are playing outrageous.”
Moore also discussed how Young’s comfort in the offense has led to his growing confidence.
“You actually can tell he’s a lot more confident; you could tell by the way he just approaches everything,” Moore continued. “He’s really growing into himself. You get to a point where you know your receivers, you know what the coaches are expecting, and then you get to a point where you are expecting something of yourself, which is where I kind of think he’s at now.”
The Panthers are ascending this season, and Bryce Young has been a major catalyst.
Eagles DC Vic Fangio Sounds Off on ‘Egregious’ Bryce Young Play