Bryce Young on his latest comeback: No big hoo-rah

Bryce Young received a lot of criticism after his first two seasons. He silenced them this season.

The Panthers quarterback did it again, leading his fifth comeback of the season. In the 31-28 win over the Rams, Young threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Tetairoa McMillan on fourth-and-2 for the game-winning field goal with 6:34 left.

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“It was fun” Young said, via Darin Gantt on the team’s website. “I just trust my guys. There’s no big conversation. No big hurray. I mean, it’s not a big speech. I know this guy is always ready.”

It was the 11th game-winning drive of Young’s career, the most by an NFL quarterback since entering 2023. At 24 years and 164 days old, he passed Josh Allen as the youngest quarterback in NFL history with 11 game-winning drives.

“Well, you don’t just become the Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick for no reason,” Panthers center Austin Corbett said. “There’s a deep, incredible talent in him and his abilities. And you’d never know it because he’s so calm and just this real SoCal kid. Yeah, we chill like it’s another day at the office.

“But his fight, his ability to shut down and just be a dog is incredible. And the calmness he has in the group, and just to see the passion come out in those moments of success, I love playing with him. It’s incredible.”

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Young had the second-best single-game passer rating in franchise history with 147.1, trailing only Cam Newton’s 153.3 in 2015. He also now has a career-high 18 touchdown passes, the most by a Panthers quarterback since Newton’s 24 in 2018.

The Panthers improved to 7-6 and are playoff contenders, a half-game behind the Buccaneers in the NFC South.