CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The inconsistent play of quarterback Bryce Young and the offense is holding the Carolina Panthers back from being a playoff team.
Eight days after Young threw for a franchise record
448 yards and three touchdowns in a road win at Atlanta, the big question became whether the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft could do it on a consistent basis.
He couldn't on Monday night.
Young struggled on the national stage, completing just 18 of 29 passes for 169 yards with two interceptions — including one on a first-and-goal play at the San Francisco 1 — in a 20-9 road loss to the 49ers. It marked the ninth time in 11 games Young has failed to eclipse 200 yards passing. He had one TD pass.
Young's decision-making was questionable at best, particularly on the goal-line interception when he should have either attempted to run the ball into the end zone or simply thrown it out of bounds.
“There’s no dream plays or hoorah speeches,” Young said. “I need to do a better job of executing myself. I need to take care of the ball. I needed to do a better job of making plays. I didn’t do good enough. I take all ownership in that."
Young's failure to produce could prove costly to the Panthers postseason chances.
The Panthers (6-6) had a chance to take sole possession of the lead in the NFC South with a win, but instead the offense failed to take advantage of the defense's three first-half interceptions of Brock Purdy and managed just 230 yards.
Carolina is now a half-game behind Tampa Bay (6-5). The teams meet twice later this season.
“It’s a quick week,” Young said. "We have to be able to flush it quick and get on to the next one.”
The starting cornerback tandem of Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson have been playing well all season, and they stepped up their play against the 49ers by combining for three picks in the first half before Horn left the game early in the third quarter because of a concussion.
Horn, who signed a $100 million contract to remain in Carolina, showed why he's emerging as one of the best cornerbacks in the league with two picks, giving him five for the season, which is tied for the league lead.
His athleticism and intelligence were on display on the two interceptions. He made a tough grab in traffic on the first pick, then broke off his coverage assignment on the second to intercept Purdy, who never saw him break on the ball.
Play-calling. The Panthers had climbed back into the playoff race this month largely behind the legs of Rico Dowdle. But coach Dave Canales, the team's offensive play-caller, inexplicably went away from his highly productive running back in the team's biggest game of the season.
Dowdle only got six carries against the 49ers despite experiencing success early on.
Chuba Hubbard carried three times.
Canales said the team was trying to build off Young's big passing game last week and the Panthers faced some “loaded boxes" — even though Dowdle averaged 6.3 yards per carry against the 49ers.
“The run game was solid when we look at it on average," Canales said. “There were some good runs, but the mix of it and the way we were going to try to attack this team, it didn’t play out. We didn’t come away with a lot of the passes that we wanted to make that happen."
Canales also called for the play-action pass on first-and-goal at the 49ers 1 instead of simply handing the ball off to Dowdle, who has been productive around the goal line this season.
Instead the intended receiver was third-string tight end Mitchell Evans.
Canales defended the play call after the game.
“There’s an option (Young) could take off and run it into the front pylon,” Canales said. “He saw (Evans) right when he turned back in, they had a defender on the edge who popped out and intercepted it at that time. He made a great play on the ball. But we’ve been running the ball there in that situation and felt like we could get another chance to run at it if we didn’t get the completion on that roll. I like the call.”
Rookie outside linebacker Princely Umanmielen continues to make plays, finishing with three tackles and a forced fumble on Monday night. He also had a fumble recovery last week against the Falcons.
Tre'Von Moehrig. The Panthers safety could face a suspension from the league after he appeared to intentionally punch 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings late in the game. After the final horn, Jennings responded by punching Moehrig in the head.
“Yeah, the guy took a cheap shot and hit him (in the groin area) and I was real proud of Jauan for not losing his mind out there," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Moehrig said Jennings had been talking trash during the game.
Canales said he intends to talk with Moehrig about the incident.
If Horn and Moehrig are out on Sunday, the Panthers could be in huge trouble against quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams have won six straight and Stafford handled the Tampa Bay secondary for 273 yards and three TDs on Sunday night in a 34-7 win.
Along with Horn, guard Chandler Zavala (calf), linebacker Claudin Cherelus (concussion) and cornerback Corey Thornton (ankle) also left the game with injuries and did not return.
The 49ers held a 15-minute advantage in time of possession.
The Panthers will have time to regroup with a much-needed bye week after the Rams game.
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