As the Los Angeles Rams edged past the Carolina Panthers with a 34-31 Wild Card round win, Bryce Young walked away frustrated. The Panthers’ quarterback dealt with constant pressure in this playoff game, but he still carried his team to the brink of a comeback. But with 32 seconds left and three timeouts, as Carolina only needed to move into field-goal range to tie the game, they couldn’t move the ball. After the game, Young pointed straight to his offense when asked about the final series.

“Just execution,” Bryce Young said in the post-game presser. “A couple of things that we all want back. It’s a moment like that, you wanna be able to come through and wasn’t able to do that. So, again, just execution. I haven’t watched a film yet, but obviously wanna find a way in a situation like that.”

On that last drive in the Wild Card game, Bryce Young barely found anyone open. He had 32 seconds, three timeouts, and a simple goal: gain about 35 yards and give the Panthers a chance at a long field goal to save their season. Instead, poor execution from Carolina’s offense led to a gain of zero yards. Young faced pressure on three straight dropbacks, scrambled, and eventually had to throw the ball away. 

On the fourth down in that drive, Young finally delivered a low but catchable pass to rookie wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr., but the pass was dropped, sealing the win for the Rams. After the game, Carolina’s head coach, Dave Canales, admitted how sickening the loss felt. Still, when he broke down Carolina’s final offensive possession, Canales gave credit to the Rams’ defense.

“I think they [Rams] covered us well, and they rushed us well,” said Canales in the post-game presser. “Bryce had to get off the spot, and they did their job.”

Carolina’s offense did Bryce Young no favors in pass protection. By the end of the night, the Rams had two sacks and eight QB hits. Young finished the game with 21-of-40 completed passes for 264 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and a 71.2 passer rating. 

But Carolina’s defense also played a major role in this postseason exit. After the Panthers grabbed a 31–27 lead with under three minutes left, the defense couldn’t hold on. A coverage mix-up let the Rams move quickly down the field and score. With 38 seconds left, Carolina failed to stop Rams’ QB Matthew Stafford’s 19-yard, game-winning touchdown pass. 

So, the Panthers came up short in their first home postseason game since the 2015 NFC Championship Game. Yet, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Bryce Young helped make it a thrilling night by rallying from a 14-0 hole. By halftime, the Panthers had clawed back to make it 17-14, and they even took the lead twice in the fourth quarter. 

What are the takeaways for Bryce Young’s team going into next season?

The Panthers did not exactly storm into the playoffs this season. They entered with an 8-9 record after losing their final two regular-season games. Carolina could not even lock up the NFC South until the Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints in Week 18, creating a three-way tie at the top of the division. Carolina won the tiebreaker and grabbed the No. 4 seed based on a 3-1 record in games between those teams. But when asked to sum up the team’s growth, Young sounded proud of how this group handled adversity.

“Yeah, it was fun to be a part of just coming into our own,” Young said. “Obviously, we had some ups and downs. I’m so proud of the way everyone responded to adversity. Whatever it may be, the way that we fought, the way that we always sat together, the way that we were always onto the next. Again, super special locker room. It’s a tough one.”

Even after such a painful loss in the postseason, could the Panthers actually be building momentum? When asked that directly after the game, Bryce Young suggested that the Panthers feel motivated, not defeated.

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“It’s on us,” Bryce Young told reporters. “We’re not entitled to anything, so whenever the next season comes, it’ll be 0-0. But the support from the city, from Carolina tonight, was huge. It was really fun to be able to play in an atmosphere like that – the energy felt great. We’re super grateful for that. We all have a ton of belief and a ton of confidence in their locker room. We know we’re capable of s-cks to fall short, so we’re gonna be motivated… to try to earn the right to have a better finish next year.”

Despite being Carolina’s No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Bryce Young did not play particularly well this season. He wrapped up the regular season with 3,011 yards for 23 TDs, 11 INTs, and a QBR of 87.8, which has only fueled questions about his future as the franchise quarterback. Still, as the Panthers won the NFC North title and Young came within seconds of pulling off a major postseason upset, that counts as real progress as the team heads into next season.