Bryce Young fizzles in opener in New Orleans

The Carolina Panthers, under new head coach Dave Canales, traveled to New Orleans for their season opener with hopes that the chemistry they developed in training camp would be the catalyst for a more cohesive start than the team’s most recent past had provided. Those hopes were quickly diminished after just one half of play against division rival, the New Orleans Saints.

The Panthers rushing attack failed to materialize in the first half only mustering 41 yards, led by Miles Sanders’ 15 yard total. The low output drastically affected the rest of the offense. Bryce Young gave up more than 50 yards after being sacked twice for 17 yards and intercepted which cost the Panthers 26.4 more yards in the first half. The second year passer was 6 of 12 for 50 yards in the air compared to Saints signal caller Derek Carr who went 12 of 16 for 121 yards and three touchdowns.

The only bright spot for Carolina was a 43-yard Eddy Pineiro field goal to put the Panthers on the board.

The Saints disrupted the continuity of Ejiro Evero’s defense, scoring on every drive of the first half and involving eight different receivers.  The biggest factor in the disruption was running back Alvin Kamara’s 70 yards on 10 carries – a performance that helped set up 3 passing touchdowns by New Orleans.

But the biggest obstacle for the Panthers was the time of possession battle. New Orleans dominated the clock for nearly 20 minutes, almost double the Panthers time of possession.

Bryce Young started the second half with the same inaccuracy of the first half and threw his second interception of the game when his deep pass intended for Adam Theilen was picked off by New Orleans safety Jordan Howden. The subpar performance appeared to be taking a toll on Young as he watched the Saints take a 37-3 lead by the mid-point of the third quarter. Young remained steady in his claim that the team was headed in the right direction. "You dwell too long or let it effect you, obviously that's something we can't do," Young said during his postgame press conference.

"You gotta be able to move on."

What appeared to be a gritty effort by Bryce Young to give Carolina their first touchdown of the day, as he scampered 3 yards into the end zone on fourth down, ended up becoming part of the list of things to fall apart for the Panthers. The play was ruled to be awarded to the Saints initially. But after further review, Young was credited with the score and his first career rushing touchdown. The replay showed that Young had possession when he crossed the goal line before losing the football.

The Panthers took hits in all three phases of Sunday’s game including a Johnny Hekker punt that was blocked by the Saints mid-way through the final period of play.

The Saints notched the 47-10 win over the Panthers to start the season. Panthers rookie receiver Xavier Legette went 4 of 7 for 35 yards. Young finished 13 of 30 for 161 yards and 2 interceptions and one rushing touchdown – the only Carolina trip into the endzone on Sunday. The disappointing loss is not where Canales wants his squad to be. “We got a lot to figure out,” Canales said during his postgame press conference.

"What I know is that this is a journey ...we will capture moments of games and it will feel like Panthers football."

What did we learn from Game 1 of the Panthers’ 2024-25 season?

1.      Bryce Young has the grit to keep fighting. Now, it’s just a wait and see game for Panthers’ fans to see if the chemistry will ever develop enough for his performance to catch up to his heart.

2.      The chemistry that many expected from the new offensive line is slow to take effect.

3.      The Panthers miss the edge play of Brian Burns. The team registered just one sack by Eku Leota.

4.      The interior line play still needs work. The saints earned more than 175 yards on the ground.

The Panthers look for an opportunity to rebound from the loss to the Saints in their home opener when they host the Los Angeles Chargers Sept. 15, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. ET at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.