Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Are the Panthers upset they didn’t take Stroud? Not on Sunday.
An otherwise ho-hum game between the Panthers and Texans made history Sunday by being the first NFL game ever to feature the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 overall draft pick rookies in the same game. The expectation leading into the matchup was that the Texans, clearly a much better team, would keep the lowly Panthers winless — while Young continued to struggle on offense with his questionable weapons.
When the dust settled Bryce Young recorded his first career win, C.J. Stroud struggled to do much of anything — and this largely defensive battle still went a long way to show why Carolina selected Young with the No. 1 overall pick, rather than Stroud.
Young was clearly the better QB on Sunday. The Panthers weapons remain woeful, dropping four key passes in the first half, all of which should have moved the chains — but the No. 1 overall pick is now beginning to better understand the limitations of his weapons are working around them. Young’s confidence has been building over the past three weeks, and this was especially true on Sunday where he showed flashes of the improvisational playmaking ability that won him the Heisman at Alabama, despite not always having the best weapons.
This is a nightmare play. Jalen Pitre is on a safety blitz and has an unimpeded path to the quarterback. Chuba Hubbard makes a vain attempt at picking up the block, but gets sacked immediately. This is a 90/10 play in the NFL that almost always results in a sack, and if it doesn’t the ball is thrown away. Instead Young managed to go through a full progression with pressure and make a frankly obscene throw after being flushed that resulted in a massive gain. This is a glimpse of the potential we saw when Young became the No. 1 pick, and there were a lot of moments like this on Sunday.
Meanwhile for Stroud and the Texans it was all a bit of a mess offensively. Coordinator Bobby Slowik called far too many run plays, while Stroud’s accuracy got extremely shaky when asked to throw downfield. The quarterback was 2-for-7 on passes with 10+ air yards, which resulted in a very mediocre afternoon where Stroud finished 16-for-24 for 140 yards.
It’s ludicrous to hit the panic button on any of this, but the Texans need to show more awareness that Stroud has drastically cooled off in his last three games and do more to compensate for it. After the team finished its first quarter script Stroud only managed to throw for 96 yards. The offense failed to find ways to make Nico Collins and Tank Dell factors in their receiving game, which had been a hallmark of Stroud’s success up to this point.
If we compare Stroud’s last three starts with the three prior the drop off is especially apparent.
Starts 2, 3 and 4: 66-for-107 (61.2%), 970 yds, 9.06 YPA, 6 TD, 0 INT
Starts 4, 5 and 6: 49-for-86 (56.9%), 588 yds, 6.83 YPA, 3 TD, 1 INT
This is a notable regression in every major area. Meanwhile if we compare to Young in these same starts we see significant improvement in a majority of the same statistics.
Starts 1, 2, and 3: 67-for-103 (65%), 503 yds, 4.88 YPA, 2 TD, 2 INT
Starts 4, 5 and 6: 70-for-110 (63.7%), 699 yds, 6.35 YPA, 5 TD, 2 INT
In short: The Panthers and Young are finding ways to do more with their lacking weapons, while the Texans are struggling to maximize what they created at the beginning of the season.
There’s little doubt that both Young and Stroud were the correct selections for the first two picks. That’s been evident for anyone who has watched them play significant time this season. As time progresses we’re seeing Young show more and more why he was the highest-graded quarterback in the 2023 class, and the future is bright for both these quarterbacks — both of whom have been friends since they began playing football. It’s going to be awesome to see this continue to pan out.
Winner: Will Levis
It would be remiss to discuss two of the 2023 quarterback class without also mentioning Will Levis. The Titans’ rookie made his first NFL start, and the early return was pretty incredible.
Levis’ found touchdowns were certainly helped by DeAndre Hopkins going beast mode for the first time in years, as well as the Falcons having one of the sorriest defenses they’ve put on the field all season — but that doesn’t wash away the deep ball accuracy of Levis who showed off his cannon arm to make big plays throughout the day. This punctuated the Tennessee attack with Derrick Henry’s prolific running game, and if this can continue the Titans will be a scary team down the stretch.
Loser: Minnesota Vikings
It’s been difficult to try and discern what exactly the plan has been for this “competitive rebuild” by the Vikings. That’s even more awkward now. Kirk Cousins is feared lose for the year with a torn achilles, and if it was difficult to discern a path forward for Minnesota in 2024, it’s damn-near impossible now.
The blend of Cousins being out, paired with beating the Packers puts this team in a weird spot. They’re now destined to being back in draft purgatory, picking too late to find a franchise quarterback, while not being good enough to make noise in the playoffs. We’ve discussed the need for this team to truly rebuild, and now at 4-4 it’s difficult to imagine how that happens.
This was the worst possible timeline for this team. It’s a shame it had to happen this way.
Loser: Chicago Bears
The Bears still suck.
Winner: Joe Burrow and the Bengals
Finally this team is getting back on track. Cincinnati had the shakiest start to the season as they looked like a shadow of themselves to start the season — but the Bengals managed to play through Joe Burrow’s early injury worries to now win three in a row.
Their dominant victory over the 49ers on Sunday was a huge statement game. This is one of the best defensive units in the league, and Burrow made them look like a JV team as he completed 87.5 percent of his passes en route to a three touchdown game that showcased all of Cincinnati’s considerable weapons.
Another team to watch down the stretch, the Bengals have arrived in the NFL in 2023.
Winner: Dak Prescott
Man, did he need this game. The Cowboys had come under fire in recent weeks as Dallas struggled to show why they were so beloved to start the season. Beating the Rams isn’t exactly a glowing endorsement of this team’s potential, but sometimes you need a game like this to show the offensive potential of a team as you enter the back-half of the season.
Is this one of the best teams in the NFC? They can be, but they might also be one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL.
