Chris Long: Bryce Young Went Toe To Toe With Patrick Mahomes

[Icege]

 

• Calls Spags "possibly one of the best DC's" in the league that will blitz and play man
• Felt there were moments in 2023 vs. GB where Bryce showed he was a pro QB
• Was not flukey; Bryce shredded KC through the air and played even better in the second half after the defense had made adjustments
• Made "jaw dropping throws" in the second half (the usual Bryce haters kept saying they were "normal" and "regular NFL" throws... hm... I'll take the word of a former NFL defender over a few disgruntled Huddlers)
• KC secondary was having issues that we weren't used to seeing and the guy that exposed it was the "little guy" that was benched
• 4th & 3 to Thielen "was incredible"
• At the end of Q3, the last throw he makes was one of his best throws all day according to Long
• Bryce was blitzed on 38% of his drop backs, was 11 of 13 for 135yds and a TD.
• Reviewed some of the issues KC is facing (secondary and tackle play, Pacheco + Omenihu out)
• Gave flowers to the KC kicker subbed in for Butker
• Shouted out Noah Gray for his performance

[TD alt]

[mav1234]

I think a big difference between players and fans is that we're most impressed by those crazy passes that seem thrown like missiles for 30 yards down the field. BY can't really do that... Instead, he throws with anticipation, where he's throwing the ball before a receiver is anywhere near where the route finishes (this alone isn't that uncommon). But when and how he does that is really impressive I think, and what a lot of former players are commenting on. With that kind of passing you have to be decisive, which he finally has been the last few games.

[MasterAwesome]

25 minutes ago, mav1234 said:

I think a big difference between players and fans is that we're most impressed by those crazy passes that seem thrown like missiles for 30 yards down the field. BY can't really do that... Instead, he throws with anticipation, where he's throwing the ball before a receiver is anywhere near where the route finishes (this alone isn't that uncommon). But when and how he does that is really impressive I think, and what a lot of former players are commenting on. With that kind of passing you have to be decisive, which he finally has been the last few games.

I agree with everything you said, but just with the caveat that these kinds of anticipation throws require rapport, familiarity, confidence, synergy, etc. between QB and WR and Bryce has an entirely new receiving corps this year other than Thielen who just returned last game.  Also, several of them are rookies who needed time to get acclimated to the NFL and develop their route running (which is extremely important for anticipation throws).  So it does seem like he "finally" has become more decisive the last few games, but it was also to be expected.  Not to sound like I'm putting the onus entirely on the receivers though; it's a two-way street and Bryce clearly lacked the confidence to pull the trigger early in the season.

[electro's horse]

[shaka]

The way BY must play quarterback has a much higher degree of difficulty.  Coupled with his physical limitations his margin for error is small. 

 

The guy evading the blitz and dropping a dime deep over double coverage is more exciting then a wobbling ball thrown into the blitz with good enough placement that gets 6 yards on a 3rd and 5.  It's been beat to death that he will never be the first guy.  He was the second guy vs the Chiefs. 

 

The second guy is harder to do because it's mostly mental:  reading, reacting and processing the correct solution that the defense provided within a second or two.    It's harder to see on film, it's harder to evaluate.  That's why I think there's a divergence between fans yelling "noodle armed middle schooler!!" and analysts going "hold up, let's not write him off yet" 

 

I personally need to see the Chiefs game be the start of growth before getting hopeful.  Ideally would like to see 1-2 300yd multi td games.  Then I'd expect the entire off season to fix his footwork.  With his physical limitations that footwork needs to be damn near perfect.  I would still bring in competition at the QB spot even in that scenario. 

[Martin]

I thought he looked great in that game. If he can continue to play like that, maybe there’s a chance? Hopefully this continues and doesn’t become a one off.

[mav1234]

24 minutes ago, electro's horse said:

I do think it's best not to get excited - as you highlight, we've seen great games here and there from otherwise mediocre QBs. But, it's also important to remember the context. That was one of CMC's many combined 100+ yard games for us (close to 150 with 2 total TDs if I recall). While a lot of us acknowledge TB was a decent veteran but not the answer, the point was he WAS a veteran and by the end of that season we knew his ceiling. The hope with Bryce is he continues to grow.

Worth taking a look at how different the passing charts are, too...

All but 8 throws basically within 5 yards of the LoS. 8 throws beyond 10 yards, and with 49 attempts!  

vs

Only 4 of BY's throws were behind the LoS, Nearly half his passes were beyond 10 yards.

Just a very different depth of target selection.  Bryce was threatening all over the field.

Fwiw, Bryce's TD % this year is pretty close to Teddy's that year - but that's including the two terrible games he started. Over the last 4 games, he's above it, so let's see if he can keep that up.

[trucpfan]

6 minutes ago, mav1234 said:

I do think it's best not to get excited - as you highlight, we've seen great games here and there from otherwise mediocre QBs. But, it's also important to remember the context. That was one of CMC's many combined 100+ yard games for us (close to 150 with 2 total TDs if I recall). While a lot of us acknowledge TB was a decent veteran but not the answer, the point was he WAS a veteran and by the end of that season we knew his ceiling. The hope with Bryce is he continues to grow.

Worth taking a look at how different the passing charts are, too...

All but 8 throws basically within 5 yards of the LoS. 8 throws beyond 10 yards, and with 49 attempts!  

vs

Only 4 of BY's throws were behind the LoS, Nearly half his passes were beyond 10 yards.

Just a very different depth of target selection.  Bryce was threatening all over the field.

Fwiw, Bryce's TD % this year is pretty close to Teddy's that year - but that's including the two terrible games he started. Over the last 4 games, he's above it, so let's see if he can keep that up.

Once again context matters thanks for a more in depth look at this. Glad to see Teddy two gloves throwing 31 out of 36 passes near the line of scrimmage and somebody’s trying to compare it to Bryce throwing dimes all over the field when will the hate stop and we tip our hat to him for his game vs KC while waiting on him to show what he can do this week. Just remember XL makes that sideline catch Bryce probably hits 300 passing yards, no PI AT probably brings down that TD giving Bryce 300. I’m waiting for this weekend can he continue to ascend weekly we'll see Sunday.

[Monrowed]

I think Bryce did well in the last game. However, I will say this, the Panthers did have two weeks to prepare for the Chiefs. This does give the team more time to come up with a plan of attack and develop a game plan that can target Kansas City’s defense with certain routes based on their coverage scheme. 
If Bryce Young comes out and has a similar game against Tampa Bay, then I may become more optimistic in seeing some sort of future here with the Panthers over the long-term.

Edited Wednesday at 05:05 PM by Monrowed

[Ricky Spanish]

36 minutes ago, mav1234 said:

I do think it's best not to get excited - as you highlight, we've seen great games here and there from otherwise mediocre QBs. But, it's also important to remember the context. That was one of CMC's many combined 100+ yard games for us (close to 150 with 2 total TDs if I recall). While a lot of us acknowledge TB was a decent veteran but not the answer, the point was he WAS a veteran and by the end of that season we knew his ceiling. The hope with Bryce is he continues to grow.

Worth taking a look at how different the passing charts are, too...

All but 8 throws basically within 5 yards of the LoS. 8 throws beyond 10 yards, and with 49 attempts!  

vs

Only 4 of BY's throws were behind the LoS, Nearly half his passes were beyond 10 yards.

Just a very different depth of target selection.  Bryce was threatening all over the field.

Fwiw, Bryce's TD % this year is pretty close to Teddy's that year - but that's including the two terrible games he started. Over the last 4 games, he's above it, so let's see if he can keep that up.

I was going to post teh same thing. The passing charts are completely different. Teddy is alergic to throws between 10 and 20 yards throughout his career. Bryce, even though he hasn't been great and doesn't have a strong arm, consistently tries to throw the ball between 10 and 20 yards downfield.

[NAS]

Bryce literally has a stronger arm than Jake Delhomme ever did and nobody complained about Jake throwing wounded ducks to Smitty. This unhealthy obsession with having a rocket arm is just dumb.  

Bryce threw some beautiful spirals with anticipation and people literally talking nonsense.  

[fanpanther]

He had a good game.  The biggest difference is panther fans have watched him for the last 2 years and have seen such horrific qb play its hard to believe this isnt just a fluke.  Looking back matt moore kyle allen almost every qb going back has had a few really good games where they seemed amazing thr matt moore vs favre vikings game comes to mind.  Hopefully he keeps improving he had a good game not amazing but good.  

[Ricky Spanish]

6 minutes ago, NAS said:

Bryce literally has a stronger arm than Jake Delhomme ever did and nobody complained about Jake throwing wounded ducks to Smitty. This unhealthy obsession with having a rocket arm is just dumb.  

Bryce threw some beautiful spirals with anticipation and people literally talking nonsense.  

Jake pre-Tommy Jone had a damn strong arm. Super Bowl TD to Moose is a great example.

After the surgery his arm wasn't the same.