The Carolina Panthers came into their first prime-time appearance riding the high of a 30-27 overtime victory against the Atlanta Falcons that featured a franchise-record 448 passing yards by quarterback Bryce Young.
But on Monday night, the follow-up featured 169 passing yards and two crippling interceptions from the former Alabama All-American in a 20-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
“First and foremost, starts with me,” Young said about the difference in the games. “Have to do a better job of making things go. There were opportunities out there. I can do a better job of getting that. And then again, we all wear it. Wasn’t some crazy difference in game plan. Coaches did a great job of having us prepared. I have to do a better job of making it go.
“You know, again, sucks right now. We have an opportunity next week. After the 24 (hours), we’ll turn the page and look towards that.”
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San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy threw a touchdown pass on the game’s opening series, then threw interceptions on the 49ers’ next three possessions.
The middle turnover came in the end zone, when former Spain Park High School star Mike Jackson picked off Purdy. But the other two interceptions put Carolina on the San Francisco 16- and 33-yard lines.
On first-and-goal at the 49ers 1 after the Panthers’ first interception, Young was intercepted by cornerback Ji’Ayir Brown when it looked as though the QB might run for the touchdown.
“Can’t put the ball in peril like that, especially in a situation like that,” Young said. “Take full ownership. That’s on me. Have to do a better job making decisions. …
“It’s no one’s fault but mine. That’s part of position. Again, not fun, but, you know, it is what it is.”
The third interception by Carolina yielded a field goal for the Panthers after a third-and-goal completion at the San Francisco 4 lost 3 yards.
While San Francisco converted 7-of-13 third-down snaps, Carolina went 1-of-7 on third down. Young’s 7-yard scramble on the play before the Brown’s end-zone interception was the only conversion.
Young completed 2-of-5 passes for 7 yards on third down in the game, which featured a 15:24 time-of-possession advantage for the 49ers.
Young threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan with 49 seconds left in the third quarter.
An unnecessary-roughness penalty against San Francisco on the PAT caused Carolina to take the point off the scoreboard and go for 2. But Young’s pass was incomplete, leaving the Panthers trailing 17-9.
Down 20-9 on its next possession, Carolina moved 32 yards on three completions and a scramble by Young to reach the San Francisco 33-yard line. But Brown picked off the Panthers QB again to wrap up the victory with 6:27 remaining.
Young hadn’t been intercepted twice since the season-opening 26-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 7. In the intervening nine games, Young had thrown five interceptions.
“Just a game of missed opportunities,” Carolina coach Dave Canales said. “Our defense was putting us in in some great situations with the interceptions and not coming away with points. Having an interception on one of those things really hurt us. …
“We didn’t take that step today that I was looking for collectively as a group. And the defense battled and they kept us in it, gave us some opportunities there, and then we turned it over again at the end with an opportunity to make the game close there.”
San Francisco running backs Christian McCaffrey and former Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa and Alabama standout Brian Robinson Jr. ran for 129 yards and one touchdown on 31 carries. Carolina running backs Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard averaged 6.0 yards per rushing attempt but combined for only nine carries.
Young completed 18-of-29 passes in the game and ran four times for 15 yards.
“I just felt like building off of what happened last week and just taking a step forward with the pass game, I saw some opportunities,” said Canales, who calls Carolina’s plays. “We were protecting pretty well as far as pass protection goes, and it just felt like we just didn’t come away with our opportunities consistently enough early on. And then in the second half, at a certain point when the score becomes what it is, it’s like, ‘OK, we’re in a two-score game. We got to move it a little bit here and throw the ball around.’”
The Panthers would have taken sole possession of first place in the NFC South with a win on Monday night. Instead, at 6-6, Carolina is one-half game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Panthers play the Los Angeles Rams at noon CST Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. At 9-2, the Rams currently hold the top spot in the NFC playoff standings.
“Going to be a sucky plane ride back,” Young said, “but we got a short week. We got to turn the page. We got to flush it quick. So not the outcome we wanted, but we’re moving forward.”