Cat Scratch Reader
Bryce Young played perhaps the best game of his career as he led the Carolina Panthers to an overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons.
A holding penalty on the first play of the game effectively ended their first drive before it got started. After the punt, the Panthers embarked on what’s been somewhat of a trademark opening drive. They went to the air despite the Falcons boasting a strong pass defense, and it worked. They picked up a 4th and 2 with a quick hitter to Xavier Legette. A few plays later, Bryce young found Tetairoa McMillan at the goal line for a powerful touchdown.
The game took a complete 180 degree turn after that score. The Panthers defense left Drake London completely uncovered on two long passes that totaled 71 yards. The second set the Falcons up on the five. Bijan Robinson took a handoff off tackle and ran into a swarm of Panthers defenders but somehow emerged to trot in for an easy touchdown.
After a nothing of a Panthers drive, the Falcons marched down the field for their second touchdown. This one was much more methodical as the home team leaned on their star running back. Robinson picked up mid-sized gains on just about every carry, and it took everything in the Panthers’ power to get him on the ground on all of his carries. A screen to Robinson took the Falcons down to the one, and after a first down stuff, he powered in to put the Falcons up 14-7.
Another Panthers punt started a third straight Falcons touchdown drive. A few modest plays were followed by another intermediate pass to London that took the ball down to the two yard line. This time Tyler Allgeier was given the honors to punch home the touchdown.
Young found McMillan open on a crosser, and he strode for 39 yards to the Falcons 30 yard line. That allowed the Panthers to take their time trying to set up a score-halftime-score scenario. That didn’t help them any though. The drive ended after one more first down, and Ryan Fitzgerald knocked in the field goal to make it 21-1o at the half.
The Panthers got the ball to start the second half and quickly made a game of it. Young found Coker over the middle for a nice chunk of yards after a first down. On the next play, he hit Xavier Legette with a beautifully thrown ball into the bucket.
On the ensuing kickoff, Natrone Brooks was loosely carrying the ball, which allowed Bam Martin-Scott to drive-by punch the ball out. It was recovered by Princely Umanmielen, setting the Panthers up in prime scoring position. They should have picked up a first down on a third down completion to Ja’Tavion Sanders, but he was slow securing the ball, which allowed the Falcons to swarm and stop him short of the sticks. On fourth down, Young tried to scramble for it...
