The biggest winner of Panthers' brutal loss is obvious

One thing became abundantly clear in Week 8 when the Carolina Panthers lost 40-9 to the visiting Buffalo Bills. They need Bryce Young badly. Most teams will suffer without their starting quarterback (see the Cincinnati Bengals, for example), but the Panthers suffered greatly.

It was a bit surprising given how competent Andy Dalton had been in relief of Young last season and with a seeming advantage in the run game, but the game yesterday was both a disaster and a beautiful portrait of Young.

Andy Dalton's bad game showcases how valuable Bryce Young is

PFF grades, eye test, box scores, and everything under the sun agree that Andy Dalton was horrible in Week 8. His first start in about a year was pretty awful, and it is the main reason the Panthers lost. He held the ball too long, missed throws, turned it over, and just couldn't handle the duties of a starter.

That alone paints a valuable picture of Bryce Young. We'll never know how Young would've played, but we can safely assume it would've been much better. The idea that this was a soft benching of Young to see if the offense could be better, which is something some fans were running with, was wrong, laughably so.

Aside from just showcasing that Young is far better than a backup at this point, it also showcased some of the unheralded things he does. Young's mobility in the pocket makes up for the offensive line's pass-protection shortcomings. His ability to make plays after scrambling also makes the offense look better.

Young isn't Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes. He's not going to carry an offense to elite levels, but it looked yesterday like Young has been at least carrying an offense to a level it has no business being at. Nothing worked on Sunday, but it usually works with Young under center.

Sure, Dalton is obviously not very good anymore, but this is the same Dalton some people were clamoring to see this year and with all the talk about Young's future, it's very clear how much he means to this team. His agent should point to this outing in negotiations for an extension whenever those begin.

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