Bryce Young has flashed promise, usually against the Atlanta Falcons, since his second year in the league. The one thing that Carolina Panthers fans have been asking from him is for Young to live up to that promise on a consistent basis. When he plays well, fan confidence surges. That confidence has plummeted immediately after Young has played poorly in a loss.
70% of fans were confident in the team’s direction after the Panthers’ opening week loss to the Chicago Bears. That number jumped to 90% of fans after trouncing
the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2. The Week 3 loss to the Cleveland Browns dropped it to 48% of fans. Now that last number has doubled.
96% of fans saw what Young accomplished with most of his team on the sidelines, against a surging Detroit Lions team and were happy with it. I’m not sure what the other 4% saw. If this is the Young we can expect going forwards then how could you not be confident in the Panthers current direction?
That said, the ‘if’ in that last sentence is carrying a lot of weight. This is easily the best start to a season that Young has had as a pro. That can be measured in basic passing statistics, the team’s wins, or a casual eye test. Young flat out looks better than he ever has on the field. If he maintains that level of play then the Panthers are set up for something special. The question now before Panthers fans is what does Young have to do to convince you this is real. Does he have to keep playing at this level? Does he have to elevate further? Or are you already sold?
Most fans, reasonably, just want to see sustained success across a whole season. Few fans are handing out free passes after watching his first three seasons. We’ll cross our fingers that the team can get healthier over this bye week to increase the possibility that the Young we have seen so far is the one we get to see again and again.
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