Mage

The problem with this is you will then be asking your RB to do something he isn't used to doing and that is taking a snap under center.

Isn't this the usual? I feel like the Panthers always wear white in September.

I'm optimistic about this team and its future, but I really don't see us winning this one. The Falcons were a good match-up for us, which makes the loss frustrating because we shot ourselves in the foot. Saints are not a good match-up for us IMO. Too much depth at receiver and they have a much better front seven than the Falcons did. I'm not sure how we win this unless Carr shats himself.

Eagles OL > Panthers OL Swift never had this kind of performance with the Lions, so what an odd thread to make. In fact, prior to this game, he had only 4 career 100-yard rushing games in 3 years with a high of 144. Swift is very talented, but he almost certainly would not be running for 175 yards on this team in Week 2.

If the Panthers cared that much about drafting local players, they would have drafted Sam Howell

What? How could the Panthers have foreseen he would have injury problems?

Cowboys are my pick to rep the NFC in the Super Bowl. That team is crazy talented, top to bottom. Prescott struggled with TOs last year, but the 4 years before that his INT% was 1.7 so I chalked it up as a fluke. He's not a GREAT QB, but he is definitely good enough and they have surrounded him with so many talented playmakers and Lamb is a superstar. But man more than anything, that defense is filthy. Some will say the Giants offense is bad and while that is true, they had the 5th ranked defense last year. And all they did was get better by adding Gilmore. Parsons is as good as any player on defense. 49ers are great too though. Damn the NFC might not have the depth the AFC has but between the Cowboys, 49ers, and Eagles... man the top of this conference is insane.

Yeah, this is just a crazy take. Clearly you don't remember how bad Clausen was. There is a reason he finished with 3 TDs in 299 throws. Either that or you are letting pure hatred cloud your judgment and evaluation.

Being a rookie is not a "weak excuse." It ain't like Young looked like Jimmy Clausen out there.

"Mortgage the future" is an exaggeration but I get what he means, especially with how loaded the 2024 QB Class could be (although I do think some of the QBs are a bit overhyped). I am sold on Bryce Young though, so no worries from me.

Yeah, his arm is definitely good enough. I'd say it is about on the same level as Joe Burrow's. That plus a crazy quick release, it really won't be an issue that holds him or the offense back (when we get capable downfield receivers).

It happens every Week 1-3. I promise you it isn't happening any more or less right now, it just feels that way because you are in the now and not the past. But this is an issue to start the season every year because again, it is rough on some players. Even preseason isn't being played at the level of intensity as a regular season game.

No disrespect, but I am pretty sure NFL players do far more stretching and training than you ever have. Again no disrespect because they have definitely done far more stretching and training than me too. Hamstring injuries happen because playing a 60-minute full-speed football game for the first time in months ain't easy. This is the case every Week 1, it has nothing to do with trainers not emphasizing stretching. Same reason you see guys get dehydrated every Week 1 too, although with all the rain it wasn't as much of a problem this year.

You are either good or you aren't. I've never bought into the idea that a QB can be "ruined". I mean sure maybe if your OL is that bad and you are letting him get destroyed every play, but the line was great yesterday. Other than that, poor performance isn't going to ruin a QB. The cream rises to the top almost always. If Trevor Lawrence can survive Urban Meyer and that 1st year in Jacksonville, then Bryce Young (or whomever) will survive this season. Although yes Lawrence was/is a better QB prospect than Young but hell even Jared Goff has proven to be a solid QB after a horrible 1st year in LA. It will be fine. There is no reason for him to not play.

Why do people keep making this comparison? They are nothing alike as players. Even if you don't think Young is a good QB, their play styles and tendencies are so different.

Hamstring injuries can be bad but it was encouraging to hear that is what it was and not his foot. When you consider how few regular season games Horn has played the last 2 years, it isn't that surprising he would pull his hammy in Week 1. He might still be injury prone, but it is also possible the hamstring was just a result of lack of PT and we don't have anything to worry about. And he did play 13 games last year.

True but to be fair Matt Stafford had Calvin Johnson. I'd trade all of our wide receivers for Calvin Johnson and UDFAs.

No disrespect but this is pretty outlandish. I guess I could also say JaMarcus Russell had a better game than Bryce did today too, context be damned. Of course Teddy and Darnold have had better games. They have far more NFL starts, there are more games to choose from. What kind of logic is this?

Probably because he knew they were going to a quick, short passing game and was trying to time a deflection. But yeah lets question Burns' motor.

What he's supposed to do? Some of you guys have crazy expectations. Ridder passed the ball 8 times in the second half and only once did he ever go deep. So again not really sure what Burns is supposed to do. Falcons adjusted and started going short on every pass play for a reason.

I mean the Falcons only threw the ball 18 times and for 91 yards. He finished with 1.5 sacks, 1 TFL, 1 QB Hit, 1 FF, and forced a holding penalty.

Exactly. And look obviously before anyone says it, Peyton played in 1998, Bryce throwing that many picks would be concerning. But the point is you can't judge a rookie QB based off the amount of picks they throw, how pretty their TD/INT ratio is, etc. Bryce is being asked to be a playmaker with a team lacking a lot of playmakers around him. Mistakes will happen. But today felt encouraging to me. I saw a QB making the best read 9 times out of 10, I saw a QB willing to be aggressive and give his receivers a chance. I think we need to give him more time to get in sync with these receivers, who are either very young (Mingo, Marshall) or in this system for the first time (Thielen, Hurst, Chark when he arrives).

Burrow in 2020 - 23/36 (63%), 0 TDs, 1 INTs, 193 Yards Lawrence in 2021 - 28/51 (54%), 3 TDs, 3 INTs, 332 Yards Josh Allen in 2018 - 18/33 (54%), 1 TD, 2 INTs, 245 Yards Deshaun Watson in 2017 - 12/23 (52%), 1 TD, 1 INTs, 102 Yards Jared Goff in 2016 - 17/31 (54%), 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 134 Yards Luck in 2012 - 23/45 (51%), 1 TD, 3 INTs, 309 Yards Stafford in 2009 - 16/37 (43%), 0 TDs, 3 INTs, 205 Yards Roethlisberger in 2004 - 12/20 (60%), 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 176 Yards P. Manning in 1998 - 21/37 (56%), 1 TD, 3 INTs, 302 Yards E. Manning in 2004 - 17/37 (45%), 1 TD, 2 INTs, 162 Yards Matt Ryan had a good debut performance (albeit on 13 attempts and carried by Michael Turner), then the next week followed it up with 13/33 (39%), 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 158 yards. Newton followed up his electric debut game with a 3 INT game. Look, maybe Bryce Young isn't the answer. I think he is, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, regardless of how he ends up, I feel as if some of you are wildly reacting to a "bad" Week 1 performance from him. Rookie QBs making their debut typically don't play well unless they have superb athleticism that they can rely on and that the play-caller can build around off jump. Young can make plays outside of the pocket, obviously, but he largely lives and dies by making plays in the pocket. Today he gave us plenty of reason to think that his football IQ is as good as advertised. He was a willing and aggressive passer. Even on his INTs, I'd argue he was making the right reads or at least we can see what he saw, he just didn't account for Bates breaking on the ball as fast as he did. Stuff like that improves with times. There is a reason rookie QBs tend to throw picks early in their career. Again maybe Young isn't our savior but for a QB making his debut? He didn't have a game out of the ordinary. When you ask a rookie QB to throw 38 times with Adam Thielen as their best WR, well it probably won't lead to pretty numbers.

I mean he's a rookie QB making his debut. What was expected? His numbers are about on par for most QBs making their debut, outside of guys who are reliant on their athleticism (Newton / RG3 / Mariota / etc). And considering how 2 of those QBs' career went... Young didn't look perfect, I'm not arguing that. But I'm not sure how people can watch him play and think he didn't look good for someone making his NFL debut. It was no better or worse than Luck, Burrow, P. Manning, E. Manning, Stafford, I can go on and on. The focus should have been on Young showing traits that translate every week and he did. Anyone disappointed in his performance today is/was simply expecting way too much for a QB in his first game. For a debuting rookie he had a solid game.

Ya'll trippin.