Panthers rookie Bryce Young overcomes relentless Texans pass rush, earns first NFL victory over his friend, C.J. Stroud

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Bryce Young was under siege, bombarded with hits from the Texans’ resurgent defense, enduring punishing sacks as he was slung to the ground by defensive end Jonathan Greenard and defensive tackle Maliek Collins.

The Carolina Panthers’ diminutive and dynamic rookie quarterback kept getting up, though, kept firing spirals and making clutch throws. Although the top overall pick of the draft was sacked a season-high six times and hit 10 times overall, he wasn’t intimidated by the Texans.

Young managed to earn his first victory of his career after going 0-5 in his previous starts for the previously winless Panthers.

His clutch fourth-down conversion pass to wide receiver Adam Thielen kept the Panthers’ game-winning drive going that was capped by kicker Eddie Pineiro’s 23-yard last-second field goal to defeat the Texans, 15-13, on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

“You love opportunities like that,” Young said. “You go in and have a chance to end the game on your terms and just try to take the game. Down by one, what else would we hope for. That’s what we play for.”

Young outplayed his childhood friend, Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, the second overall pick of the draft. He completed 70.9 percent of his throws for 235 yards, one touchdown pass to tight end Tommy Tremble and zero interceptions for a career-high 103.6 passer rating.

“Good quarterback, he was calling some shots up there. He just felt very comfortable,” said Greenard, who had an outstanding game with 2 1/2 sacks, two tackles for losses and four qquarterback hits. “We got after him a bit, but, at the same time, they had a good game plan at times when they didn’t want to make him do too much and take what we gave him. He’s going to be a very, very good quarterback. The sky is the limit for that kid. He’s going to be a real good player.”

Although the Texans had one of their top performances on defense, especially in collapsing the pocket with Collins sacking Young twice and hitting him three times, Young was undaunted.

During the Panthers’ ultimate game-deciding drive, Young helped march his team on a 15-play, 86-yard drive that took 6 minutes and 17 seconds off the clock to close out the game. He wasn’t sacked on that drive.

“Just wasn’t enough, ultimately,” Greenard said. “That’s the bottom line. We can’t sit here and say, ‘Alright, talking about the stats as far as the D-line having six sacks.’ We didn’t have seven. We should have had one more that could have ended the game. We always say that it doesn’t matter what the situation is, we don’t care about coverage, we don’t care about none of that. We didn’t get to the quarterback. So, at the end of the day, that’s on us.

A former Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama, Young avoided a potential sack in the second quarter when he was blitzed by safety Jalen Pitre. He eluded Pitre, scrambling to his left to complete a 31-yard pass to veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen. Thielen caught eight passes for 72 yards on 11 targets.

“Bryce Young has definitely got a bright future,” Texans cornerback Shaq Griffin said. “I like a lot of things that he did. We put the pressure on him. They kind of put the ball in his hands. He did some great things today.”

Young took care of the football, didn’t fumble and, overall, made a lot of smart decisions.

“I thought Bryce really played smart with the football,” said Panthers coach Frank Reich, who handed over play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown for the first time Sunday. “I just think he was in a good rhythm. I thought in the first half we did a good job in some of our play-actions, getting the ball down the field. You could just tell he was comfortable making the plays.”

The toughness Stroud displayed was impressive, especially being hit again and again by Collins and Greenard.

“He did good,” Collins said. “He’s accurate. He did a lot of good things.”

Young’s composure stuck out to his teammates. Especially on that fourth-down throw to Thielen.

“I think his ability to just stick with it, like don’t try to do too much,” Thielen said. “Just know what he’s good at and trust it and no matter what’s happening throughout the game, he’s going to go out there and just do it. There’s no panic. There’s no stress. There’s no down look on his face. You could tell, he’s just ready to get back out there and go to work. And that’s not an easy thing to do. That’s impressive, especially with a rookie.”

Stroud completed 16 of 24 passes for a season-low 140 yards. For the second time this season, he had no touchdown passes. He wasn’t intercepted. Other than a 31-yard completion to wide receiver Noah Brown, everything was short to intermediate connections. His second-longest pass was a 15-yarder to Nico Collins. All of his other long completions were 11 yards or less.

After the game, Stroud and Young had a lengthy conversation and exchanged hugs and handshakes. The two California natives hadn’t played in a game against each other since middle school when Young led his Inland Empire Ducks to a victory over Stroud’s Pomona Steelers in an all-star game exhibition.

“It’s cool, it was a normal game for me, I feel like for him, too,” Stroud said. “We’re just playing football. We’re friends off the field, and that’s a blessing, but I come to play hard and want to win.

“Happy for him in his first win. I think that’s big for him. Hopefully, he catches some momentum. I’m a Texan. So my focus is there.”

The comparisons between Young and Stroud will go on for years. This time, Young got the win over Stroud, the leading candidate for Offensive Rookie of the year honors after passing for 1,800 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception for a 94.9 passer rating in his first seven starts for the 3-4 Texans.

“We’re two teams,” said Young, who received a game ball for his efforts. “C.J. is my dawg. I have a ton of love and respect for him. It’s not a one-on-one game out there. I’m super, super happy for this team, to be a part of this team. I’m just grateful to be a part of it.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com