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Why several Carolina Panthers are bullish on playoff Bryce Young

The Panthers are in the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Bryce Young will start his first NFL postseason game. It appears that Carolina is in good hands.
Russell Baxter|
Jan 3, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) runs on field before the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Jan 3, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) runs on field before the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers host a playoff encounter with the Los Angeles Rams this Saturday afternoon. NFC South champions for the first time 2015, the franchise will be taking the field for the first time in a playoff game since 2017.

Panthers’ third-year signal-caller Bryce Young will certainly be in the spotlight. The former will obviously be making his NFL playoff debut, and teammate David Moore feels he’s be ready to seize the moment.

“He’s grown every game this year,” said Moore earlier this week (via Kassidy Hill and Darin Gantt of Panthers.com), “especially in these tight games that we’ve had. Watching him come down and break records and have a great season, the season he’s having. To see him in the playoffs, he’s been there. He’s been in ‘Bama, so the pressure won’t hurt him. I’m excited to watch him play, watch him keep doing great things and lead us all the way.”

Bryce Youn
Dec 21, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) drops to throw during the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Obviously, that “playoffs” comment by Moore refers to Young’s postseason experience at the University of Alabama. Meanwhile, Panthers’ head coach Dave Canales is looking forward to seeing his quarterback and team in action on Saturday. “I’m so fired up for Bryce and for the whole crew,” said Canales (via Hill and Gantt), “but these are the moments—in my mind, when we’ve put Bryce into these high stakes situations, he’s performed well.”

In this year’s first meeting with the Rams, Young hit on 15-of-20 passes for 206 yards and three scores in a 31-28 upset of Sean McVay’s team.

“Whether it’s going for it on fourth down,” added Canales, “end of game type of stuff, it’s an area where he just continues to execute and do the basics and the fundamentals that we ask him to, and so, these games are like that. And when you’re playing a great opponent like the Rams, all the little execution and the fundamentals are so important, and so I love this challenge, for our group and especially for Bryce.”

“Young’s 12 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime,” said Joseph Person of The Athletic, “rank second behind only Justin Herbert (13) in NFL history by a quarterback before his 25th birthday. They’re also the most among all active QBs since the start of the 2023 season. Young has delivered six of those game-winning drives this season, tied with the Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams for the second-most behind Bo Nix’s seven. Young was third in the league with a 101.2 passer rating in one-score games, trailing only Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson.”

“Those performances.” added Person, “including a game-winning touchdown to rookie Tetairoa McMillan in a 31-28 win over the Rams in Week 13, “give veterans like offensive lineman Austin Corbett confidence that the playoff stage won’t be too big for Young.”

“Every single time (in the postseason) is the gotta-have-it moment,” said Corbett (via Person). “That’s what he does. He understands the pressure. He understands that it’s also a privilege and that’s where he thrives throughout his entire career, from high school to college to now.”

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.