Bryce Young’s Season Finale Status: To Play or Not to Play? Panthers’ Coaching Staff Faces Tough Decision
Gone are the days of benching Bryce Young to give the offense a chance to succeed and the Carolina Panthers a chance at victory. Young spent five weeks on the pine for those reasons, but he has experienced an almost unprecedented resurgence after that. Since Week 9, he’s been one of the best passers in the NFL.
Now, the question for Young’s starting status is different. The Panthers genuinely have nothing to play for this weekend. They can spoil the Atlanta Falcons season, but Atlanta needs help to get into the playoffs anyway. Here’s why the Panthers should and why they shouldn’t sit Young, who excelled last week, for the season finale.
Why the Panthers should sit Bryce Young
Unequivocally, Bryce Young is the future of Carolina. On Sunday, when everything went awry, he was one of the few bright spots. He played well, and he has shown more than enough to not only warrant a 2025 job but to inspire hope in the Carolinas.
That comes with a lot of risk. Young is obviously not a huge person. His frame is small. He has taken hits with remarkable ease throughout his NFL career, but that’s only true until it isn’t. The Falcons’ pass rush could get one good hit and wreck the Panthers’ 2025 plans.
That is all the more likely given the injuries on offense. There are no running backs, so there’s no real threat of a running game. The offensive line is banged up, as Taylor Moton missed last week and Robert Hunt, Damien Lewis, and Ikem Ekwonu have been on the injury report during the last few weeks.
Why the Panthers should not sit Bryce Young
The Panthers will not have any offensive success without Bryce Young, and no team waves the white flag like that. Without Chuba Hubbard, the offense is reliant on Young to move the ball. He might have trouble doing so on his own, but he’s a far better option for that than either Andy Dalton or Jack Plummer.
For evidence of that, look no further than Sunday. Young had just over 200 yards passing, and the Panthers had 204 as a team. While a win still seems far-fetched because of the injuries and overall talent deficit, the Panthers can’t bench their only opportunity to score.
