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Props to the Panthers for another gritty win. Perhaps Carolina should've been the team wearing the throwback duds and faux-leather helmets based on their trench warfare-esque scheme? Thankfully, they weren't, though. Those uniforms were truly awful. At any rate, it was one for the history books in a deeply historic stadium, and it was the kind of win you can hang your cap on, whether the national pundits want you to or not. The Packers may be a "better team" than the Panthers on paper, but they weren't better on the field on Sunday, and that is where it counts.
My main question today is about our passing offense. I guess what I'm wondering is, where is it? Don't get me wrong, I'm a run-first apologist, but I'm becoming moderately concerned about our lack of production through the air. Outside of fourth and gotta-have-it situations late in games, we don't seem to be able to move the ball effectively by throwing. In fact, passing seems to be a recipe either for turnovers or three-and-outs.
We have too talented a receiving corps to be limiting their duties to run blocking (which they are excellent at by the way), and we need to figure out sooner rather than later if Bryce can be more than an acting regional manager of closely contested football games. I'm not asking for the kind of stubborn arm-punts we saw from the opposition in Green Bay last weekend (Happy Birthday to us!), but surely we can scheme up something more consistent?
As always, Keep Pounding! — Jake, Candler, NC
I understand where this is coming from. Throwing for 102 yards a game is not what you'd call sustainable in the modern NFL. At the same time, winning in Green Bay, which they hadn't done since 2008, buys you a little grace (for the record, Jake Delhomme threw for a hearty 177 yards that November day, while DeAngelo Williams ran for four touchdowns).
And if that game was anywhere but Lambeau last week, most people would likely share your concerns.
It might have got a little lost in all the excitement last week that veteran long snapper/amateur meteorologist JJ Jansen said there was a 20-yard difference in field goal range from one end of the stadium to the other. The wind was whipping down there on the field, to the point that Jansen said a 48-yard point after was "unmakeable," while a 49-yard game-winning field goal the other way was easily within range.
But even beyond the winds (which probably had more than a little to do with that pick), the Panthers' passing game is a work in progress for a few reasons. They have a 24-year-old quarterback, a receiving group that's 24, 24, 23, and 22, and tight ends that are 25, 22, and 22. There are older guys they could be playing (one's in Minnesota, one's inactive), but they're trying to grow this passing game for times beyond this week. So they're willing to work through the growing pains Young might be having with McMillan, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, Jimmy Horn Jr., Tommy Tremble, Ja'Tavion Sanders, and Mitchell Evans.
There's a lot of potential there, but that takes time to develop. It's a long-range investment, for sure.
And again, it's mostly working. Young has led nine game-winning drives since he entered the league. That's tied with Super Bowl champions Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes, and veteran Geno Smith, since the start of the 2023 season. (And one ahead of Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, and Matthew Stafford in that span.) If he wasn't winning, I could see it.
But as long as there's whole-team progress, I'm willing to wait to pass judgment on one component of one phase, beyond saying, of course, they need to get more there eventually.