Insider foolishly claims Bryce Young 'didn't do enough' in Panthers' loss to Saints

The box score from Bryce Young's outing against the New Orleans Saints isn't all that inspiring, but it doesn't exactly paint an accurate picture. The Carolina Panthers' game plan didn't really allow him to do much throwing, and that's what cost them, not Young's play.

Young was pretty accurate on every throw, scrambled extremely well (was the team's best runner by far), and made plays to bail out the offense on third and fourth down routinely. Yet, ESPN insider David Newton believes he's the reason they lost.

Team insider has silly take on why Panthers lost

Dec 14, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) runs the ball during the first quarter against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

It's easy to say that a quarterback who threw for under 200 yards in a close loss and blame the loss on him, but that would imply that someone didn't watch the game, which ESPN insider David Newton almost certainly did.

And because he did, he should know that a porous zone defense, dismal running game, horrible penalties, and questionable offensive game plan led to the Panthers' demise, not Young. And yet, that's the take we're seeing.

"Bryce Young needed to step up in his biggest December game in the NFL, and he didn't do quite enough." Newton wrote.

Newton did say Young made some big plays, including his outrageous TD pass to Jalen Coker and a clutch scramble on third-and-10 after the two-minute warning.

"But in the end, the quarterback, who went 15-for-24 for 163 yards and 1 touchdown, didn't do enough," the analyst concluded.

Yes, Young didn't do as much as most would've liked to have seen, but "not enough" is not the same. Young wasn't asked to do as much.

The game plan was to run the ball time and time again, and even when it became clear that that wasn't working and Young was playing pretty well, the plan didn't change.

Credit and blame almost always go to the quarterback, but it's almost never accurate in a team sport with 53 active players every week. There is so much more to it than just observing that the QB didn't throw for a ton of yards in a close loss, and so much more is exactly what led to this loss.

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