Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young followed up his franchise record performance with another dud on Monday night. Facing a weak San Francisco defense, he could only muster up 169 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
The two interceptions proved to be crushing. Young's turnover in the end zone negated a chance to tie the game early on. His second one ended their comeback bid while driving near the red zone down 11.
One insider understandably ripped Young to shreds for his performance, but was it as bad as it looked?
Bryce Young draws criticism for turnovers but may not deserve as much
Bryce Youn
Nov 24, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) rushes the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
Bryce Young did not have a very good game last night. Full stop. Dave Canales' head-scratching play calling did not help, nor did the receivers not being open and making silly mistakes, but Young was not good.
"Aside from connecting with rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan on a 29-yard touchdown, Young's approach consisted primarily of checking down throughout the contest," Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski wrote. "He struggled against the Niners' blitz packages. His two turnovers were both highly questionable decisions as well."
Young had one turnover from the one-yard line. "He rolled to his right and decided to flip a pass into the end zone that Ji'Ayir Brown intercepted instead of taking the available space in front of him and running for a score," he wrote.
It appeared as if this was a bad play design and a bad route by Tommy Tremble. The bad decision by Young, who should've just run it and would've had a chance to score, was the cherry on top, but play action rollouts from the one with Rico Dowdle on the field are ill-advised in the first place.
Tremble and Mitchell Evans ran routes to the same side of the field, which meant the entire defense could roll with Young and smothered most everything in the end zone. And when Tremble drifted back towards Evans, his defender was able to drift back and pick off the pass, too.
"Brown intercepted Young in the fourth quarter as well. An argument can be made that San Francisco should have been called for defensive holding. Still, Brown was playing single-high right over the top of McMillan's route. Even with a clean stem from the wide receiver, Young would have still thrown into double coverage," the insider noted.
However, it's not at all fair to criticize Young for throwing an interception where his receiver was interfered with. The replay clearly showed McMillan was held out of his break and slowed up, therefore he couldn't get to the spot Young knew he would be.
And given the fact that the ball sailed past both the cornerback and McMillan's outstretched arm, it's not accurate to say he threw into double coverage. The safety, Brown, was behind both of them and wouldn't have been in front of the play, so it was not at all a bad decision or even a bad throw.
- Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI -
Panthers studs & duds from their humiliating MNF loss to the 49ers
Takeaways from Carolina Panthers’ sloppy loss to San Francisco
ESPN analyst shares glowing praise for Carolina Panthers offseason
Carolina Panthers predicted to pick Ohio State star in 2026 NFL draft