Xavier Legette costs Carolina Panthers stunner over Eagles

Xavier Legette had the worst day of his pro career.

Nov 24, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette (17) during pregame warmups against the Kansas City Chiefs at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Xavier Legette just had, unequivocally, the worst game of his NFL career. He has struggled with drops at times this year, his first in the league, but never like today. The most unfortunate of all was a wide-open touchdown that would have given the Carolina Panthers the lead with under 45 seconds left.

Xavier Legette's drops cost Panthers a win

Xavier Legette man oh man. pic.twitter.com/Oy5gd68Orp

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 8, 2024

The Panthers were trailing with three minutes to go and had driven into the plus side of the field when Bryce Young lofted the ball toward the end zone for Xavier Legette. The rookie ran a great route and was all alone and stretched out for the ball, falling to the ground and rolling to the end zone with it.

It had come out of his hands and touched the ground during the roll, and the Panthers couldn't get back to the end zone on the drive. It would have been the biggest play of his career, but he dropped it. He dropped two balls on the would-have-been game-winning drive, too.

His first target was a drop, although he did get blasted by a defensive back in the process. That one was forgivable, but the others were blatant. None were as damaging as the dropped touchdown, but it all added up to a lot of yards and points left on the field.

It ruined what would have been a 98-yard potentially game-winning drive for Young and robbed the Panthers of a stunning upset. Legette had eight targets, and while not all of them were drops, he only recorded two catches.

- Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI -

Panthers RB Jonathon Brooks suffers new non-contact knee injury

NFL 2025 salary cap projection: How much space will Panthers have?

Panthers great Steve Smith went 1-on-1 with tennis champion Alcaraz

Jaycee Horn comments strongly suggest he’ll re-sign with Panthers