Bryce Young quiets critics with 448-yard game in win over Falcons; consistency the next hurdle

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — At least for one week, Bryce Young silenced the critics.

The question moving forward will be if he can do it on a consistent basis.

Seven days after being held to 124 yards passing by the New Orleans Saints, Young completed 31 of 45 passes for a franchise-record 448 yards passing and three touchdowns to lead Carolina to a 30-27 win over the Atlanta Falcons that pulled the Panthers (6-5) within a half game of the first-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South.

Entering Sunday's game, Young had only eclipsed 200 yards passing in one of his previous nine starts this season.

Panthers coach Dave Canales said after the 17-7 loss to the then-one-win Saints that the Panthers had to figure things out in the passing game and how to get bigger chunk plays.

They did on Sunday.

Canales felt that this type of game was coming from his team.

“I’m seeing the improvement in practice, I’m seeing the chemistry happen," Canales said. “For whatever reason, that hasn’t showed up in the game. Today, we found great rhythm. It’s not always pretty and there were some dirty pockets, but the offensive line did an admirable job of giving Bryce time, and Bryce bought a little bit of time to find guys down the field. It just takes a couple of plays, and the guys feel the juice and the confidence to continue to go.”

Rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan admitted the offense could feel the mounting pressure from the poor numbers in the passing game.

“Bryce and just our whole offense was getting a lot of backlash just the past week about, obviously, the passing yards,” McMillan said. “But everybody in the locker room knew it was bound to happen. We knew that we had in our bag, and specifically Bryce. But I mean, Bryce went out there and balled for sure.”

Young, who had five total TDs in last season's game at Atlanta, said the Panthers need to play well in the passing game on a more consistent basis beginning Monday night at San Francisco.

“We all know what we’re capable of. We have the guys and we know we also have to be balanced as well," Young said. "The coaching staff today did a great job of giving us opportunities, of scheming stuff up. Again, it’s not one player. It’s not one person. It’s all of us. Credit goes to them, to the guys around me and then we have to earn the right to be consistent.”

The Panthers did a better job of getting the tight ends more involved in the offense.

Tommy Tremble had a huge 54-yard catch-and-run in overtime to set up Ryan Fitzgerald's third game-winning field goal of the season, Ja'Tavion Sanders added four catches for 22 yards and Mitchell Evans added two grabs for 28 yards. For a Panthers team that often seems to view its tight ends as an afterthought, that is a huge day of production.

“You love to see the tight ends getting involved and (slot receiver Jalen (Coker) making a couple of plays as well, because the field starts to tilt when T-Mac (McMillan) plays as well as he has been," Canales said. "Today we just felt like it was a balanced deal, where Bryce had options and different places to go.”

Tackling. The run defense struggled against the Falcons, with Bijan Robinson running for 104 yards and two touchdowns. The Panthers have had issues stopping Robinson and Sunday was no exception, as he found several holes, particularly running to the outside.

Robinson did most of his damage in the first half with 93 yards rushing as Atlanta built a 21-7 lead. He was limited to 9 yards in the second half.

“Simply put, it was tackling in the first half, and Bijan really just went off," Canales said. “We had guys in position, and he made us miss a couple of times. That’s where we have to have the full group rallied into the ball so that if someone does miss, someone’s there to pick it up. He picked up a bunch of extra yards that way. Playing the little details, all those things, were what we talked about at the half.”

Tetairoa McMillan. The No. 8 overall pick in the 2025 draft has the third-best odds to win AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, according to BetMGM after catching eight passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns against the Falcons. It was McMillan's second two-TD game of the season, previously reaching the mark against the Dallas Cowboys. McMillan has 54 receptions for 748 yards and four TDs despite having to spend his entire rookie season as the team's No. 1 wide receiver and drawing most of the opposing defense's attention.

Panthers secondary. One week after the Panthers struggled to stop New Orleans' Chris Olave, the Panthers allowed another 100-yard receiver in Drake London. Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn had a defensive holding call leading to an Atlanta touchdown.

Young injured his ankle early in Sunday's game but was able to get it re-taped and returned to have a career game. Whether or not that ankle, which kept him out of the Buffalo game a few weeks ago, will give him more problems down the road remains to be seen. “He was dealing with some stuff," Canales said. “The ankle that flared up a couple times and they checked it out, and they made sure that everything was structurally fine. At that point, it was just a pain tolerance thing, and he gutted it out.” ... LB Christian Rozeboom left the game with a hamstring injury leaving the Panthers thin at linebacker.

100 — Yards from scrimmage from running back Rico Dowdle on 24 touches, putting him over 1,000 yards from scrimmage for the season.

The Panthers will play in their only Monday night game of the season when they face their former star running back Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers.

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Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) celebrates his touchdown reception in the second half of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) celebrates his touchdown reception in the second half of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales, facing, greets quarterback Bryce Young (9) celebrates after an overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons in an NFL football game, Nov. 16, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales, left, greets quarterback Bryce Young (9) celebrates after an overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons in an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams faced their biggest deficit in more than two months when they fell 10 points behind Detroit with 30 seconds left in the first half. Even worse, both their offense and their defense felt they were letting each other down.

That's when Matthew Stafford reminded his sideline that a big comeback must start small.

“Let's go steal three (points),” Stafford told his teammates before he led a brisk five-play drive for a field goal as time expired.

The Rams rode that momentum into a phenomenal second half on both sides of the ball that ended with Los Angeles officially headed back to the playoffs.

Matthew Stafford passed for 368 yards and hit Colby Parkinson for two touchdowns, and the NFC-leading Rams became the first team to clinch a postseason berth with a 41-34 victory Sunday.

Kyren Williams rushed for two scores and Blake Corum added another TD for the Rams (11-3), who put up 20 consecutive points while seizing control of their eighth victory in nine games.

“When we're firing on all cylinders ... man,” said nose tackle Kobie Turner, who had a key sack of Jared Goff. “You put your foot on the gas, and you leave everybody behind.”

Puka Nacua had nine catches for 181 yards for Los Angeles, which is headed to the playoffs for the third straight year and for the seventh time in coach Sean McVay's nine seasons.

After throwing his fifth interception of the season in the first half, Stafford ruthlessly led the Rams to victory in the second. He heard chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” from the SoFi Stadium crowd after hitting Parkinson for an 11-yard score with 4:49 to play.

Amon-Ra St. Brown scorched his hometown team for 163 yards and two touchdowns on 13 receptions for the Lions (8-6), who were held to 125 yards in the second half. Goff passed for 338 yards and three TDs, but Detroit has alternated wins and losses since Week 5, endangering its hopes for a third straight playoff berth.

“We’re resilient,” Goff said. “We really are, and I expect us to bounce back from this, and we still have plenty of stuff in front of us. We’ve got a great group that can win a championship here.”

Jameson Williams caught a 31-yard TD pass and had seven receptions for 134 yards. David Montgomery also scored with 2:42 to play to make it close — but the Rams got a first down to exhaust the Lions' timeouts, preventing a last-second comeback.

“Third quarter was rough on us,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said. “They got a jump on us that we couldn’t overcome. Nacua had a huge day. We couldn’t slow him down. Stafford played at a really high level, which we knew he would if we couldn’t disrupt him, and more importantly, stop the run. We weren’t able to do that.”

Detroit’s offense dominated the first half, averaging 8.5 yards per play and taking a 24-14 lead shortly before halftime. St. Brown caught a 17-yard touchdown pass set up by Aidan Hutchinson's 58-yard interception return in the first quarter, and the Orange County native scored again in the second before finishing the first half with nine catches for 127 yards.

But Parkinson caught a 26-yard TD pass late in the third quarter to put the Rams back ahead. His second TD catch in the fourth quarter was his sixth in his past six games, surpassing the veteran tight end's total TDs in his first 5 1/2 NFL seasons.

Kyren Williams scored on consecutive drives before the first half got away from the Rams. USC product St. Brown scored his second TD on an 8-yard catch before Jameson Williams got open comfortably for his long scoring catch 30 seconds before halftime, sending the Rams to their first double-digit deficit since Week 5.

But after Harrison Mevis made field goals on either side of halftime, Los Angeles reclaimed the lead on Parkinson's sprawling TD catch in tight coverage.

The Rams forced a punt and went 50 yards in two plays for another score, with Nacua's 39-yard catch setting up Corum's TD run.

Stafford and the Rams controlled the second half even while losing both of their star receivers in the fourth quarter.

Davante Adams injured his hamstring while running a long route with 12:36 to play, and Nacua left due to cramps one snap before Parkinson’s second TD. Nacua returned for the Rams’ final series.

Lions: CB Amik Robertson hurt his hand in the second half and didn't finish the game.

Rams: Adams, the NFL's leader in TD receptions, has been limited by hamstring injuries twice already this season.

Lions: Host Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Rams: At Seattle on Thursday for the overall NFC lead.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is tackled by Detroit Lions middle linebacker Alex Anzalone, top left, and defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (97) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams (17) makes a catch over Detroit Lions cornerback D.J. Reed (4) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Katie Chin)

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) scores a rushing touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (12) runs over Detroit Lions safety Erick Hallett (36) after a catch during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Katie Chin)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Katie Chin)