cranky

For what it's worth, Young had 3 INT's his first 2 games (1.5/game) but has only had 3 in his last 7 (.42/game). Last season, Young had 3 in his first 2 ( 1.5/game) and then only 7 in the last 11 (.63/game). Basically what I am trying to say is his numbers are skewed with his early struggles. And for whatever it is worth, he also struggles early in the games: 5 of his INTs have come in the first half of games, only 1 has occured in the second half.

I won't disagree with any of that.

I said the conservative play calling was because Canales doesn't think we can win shootouts. Yes, I did say part of that was because of the young, inexperienced receivers and that the OL is better suited for run blocking. I should have also included Young as part of the reason as well but I was responding to the post concerning "young receivers" and Thielens' absence. I am not so enamored with Young that I think all his problems are simply because of the receivers. I do think they overpaid for him and he has not lived up to the cost. He has had his struggles, as does pretty much every rookie qb thrown into a bad situation. But I have seen enough good things to have hope that he continues to get better. The OP is just pointing out how his performance late in the games when the game is on the line is one of those good things.

You are putting words in my mouth.

So do you think having inexperienced receivers and Thielen being gone affects Youngs' performance negatively?

I posted this already but: I think the short passes (conservative play calling) is more a product of Canales' knowing they are not going to win many shootouts. The receiver are too young and inexperienced and the OL is built more for run blocking than pass blocking.

Can you give me examples of why you believe he "tried" to open the offense but couldn't? I think the short passes are more a product of Canale knowing they are not going to win many shootouts. The receiver are too young and inexperienced and the OL is built more for run blocking than pass blocking. Make no mistake about it, I give a ton of credit to the OL and Rico. Just because I illustrate how well Young played in crunch time does not mean I do not recognize everyone elses contribution.

He did...but he also got them out of it. As far as his opinion on Young, that's all speculation on yours' and others around here part.

One random play lol?

He threw for 199 and 198 against Miami and the Cowboys so he didn't get them into that situation in those games. More importantly, Miami, the Cowboys and the Packers threw for 261, 256 and 273 yards respectivly - all more than Young. And yet they all lost. High passing yardage does not equate to wins.

Canales’ recipe for success is simple — slow the game down with long drives that keep the other team’s offense off the field. Long drives are built from short gains but short gains require more 3rd-down conversions. The Panthers are converting 37.5% of their third downs, which is average but not enough. As a result, they have attempted 21 fourth downs — the most in the NFL — and they’ve converted 71.4% of them, ranking 3rd among teams with at least 15 attempts. The Chiefs are second @ 80% and the Colts are first at 88% but the majority of their conversions are short yardage runs - not passes. The Panthers have had three big wins this season — against Miami, the Cowboys, and the Packers — those conversions have played a major role in each of those wins. Miami The Panthers trailed by 17 in the 2nd quarter, facing a 4th-and-5 at the Miami 48. Young threw a 21-yard completion and they went on to score 7 on that drive. Then in the 4th, down by 4, they faced another 4th-and-5 at the Miami 33. Young delivered a 17-yard completion for the 1st down and they went on to score the winning TD. Cowboys The game is tied and the Panthers take over at their own 14 with 6 minutes left. Rico picks up 16 yards and Young converts two 3rd downs, gaining 37 yards, but misses on a third conversion. At the Cowboys’ 40, facing a 4th-and-4 at the 2-minute mark — knowing the Cowboys likely score if they get the ball back — Canales has them go for it. Young converts with a 7-yard pass putting them at the 33 in FG range. They then go on to kicj the game winning FG. Packers Young was 2-for-2 on 4th-down attempts. Then on the final drive starting from their own 19 with the score tied, Young converts two 3rd downs for 19 yards and Rico adds another 19 to move them into field-goal range for the win. In total, Bryce went 2-for-4 on 3rd downs and 5-for-5 on 4th downs on critical plays in those games. When the Panthers needed 1 yard against the Packers on their own 41 early in the game, Canales went to Young. - not Rico. When they needed 4 yards to keep the drive going at the 2 minute mark against the Cowboys he went to Young. Those throws weren’t empty-yardage completions; they were high-pressure, must-convert moments that directly contributed to all three wins. I keep reading how the Panthers are winning in spite of Young, that Canales doesn’t trust him and schemes around him. But these drives show the opposite: when the game is on the line, Canales has consistently put the ball in Young’s hands and Young has consistently produced in those moments. Some people do well in normal situations but crumble under pressure. Others can be uneven in normal times but produce when the presure is greatest. The question is who would you rather have in the playoffs. More importantly, who do you think Canales and the FO would want?

Ughh. I felt great about the Packers' game but have a bad feeling about this one. I think the run game never takes off, we have a couple of turnovers and Jason Hill and Kamara run all over us and we lose.

The Jaguars beat the 49ers and the Chiefs after us. Not sure I would say that was a winnable game even if Young didn't turn the ball over.

Isn't he locked into his fourth year ( 2026 ) as part of his rookie contract?

I don't think Canales is minimizing him. I do not want to get into that right now though. To go back to signing Bryce long-term, why can't they just so what the Giants did with Jones. They did not pick up his fifth year option. He played his fourth year and did well so they signed him to a contract just before the start of his fifth year. Let Bryce play his fourth year for his contract. Of course he could close out this season against the Bucs, Seahawks and Rams looking like he did at the end of last season. That would certainly complicate things lol