Studs and duds from Panthers' ugly loss to Seahawks in home finale

The Carolina Panthers had a chance to do something this week. If nothing else, they could've really shown that they're legit even in a loss. There's no shame in losing to the Seattle Seahawks. Most teams do. But most teams don't have this awful a performance in a crucial contest that, for a long time, was very winnable. Here are the studs and duds, and the studs were hard to come by.

Stud: Ejiro Evero

Maybe it was poor offense from the Seattle Seahawks, which is something that they have from time to time, but the Panthers' defense came to play. Ejiro Evero's packages worked better, and he had his players consistently in position to make plays and keep their coverage assignments close.

Dud: Chuba Hubbard

you can't be serious, Chuba Hubbard
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) December 28, 2025

If nothing else, Chuba Hubbard really cost the Panthers on one possession. The first play after an end-zone interception by Mike Jackson, Hubbard fumbled the ball right back to the Seahawks. It could've been a game-changing drive, but Hubbard, who was ineffective all day, cost them.

Stud: Mike Jackson

Speaking of Mike Jackson, he had a day. He had a pass breakup, a beautiful interception (as mentioned), and was generally good in coverage. Even when matched up on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, he was not overmatched against his former team.

Dud: Bryce Young

Bryce Young picked off by Julian Love. Either Bryce threw behind him or McMillan cut the route short. Or both.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) December 28, 2025

Part of it was undeniably an awful game plan and the playcalling did not help, but Bryce Young was not playing well at all. His interception was ugly, and the inability to hit anything remotely past the line of scrimmage for most of the day was hurtful. The pass-catchers didn't help, but he was also very bad.

Stud: Christian Rozeboom

Christian Rozeboom didn't make any huge plays, but he was pretty reliable, which he often isn't. He made tackles all over the field and was generally involved in the defense, which overall had a very good day.

Dud: Jaycee Horn

Jaycee Horn's day started out with a bad drop on a wobbling would-be interception. He might've walked into the end zone untouched, but he dropped it. It got worse, as he later allowed a third-and-21 conversion by committing a terrible facemask that allowed Seattle to score and put the game out of reach.

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