Bryce Young scored five touchdowns in the win. The Panthers will have the eighth pick in April’s draft.
ATLANTA β The Carolina Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons in an overtime thriller that featured a quarterback duel that could prove to be a classic NFC South matchup in the coming years.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Falcons quarterback Michael Penix combined for eight touchdowns in the high-scoring affair. The Panthers won 44-38 with a Miles Sanders rushing score in overtime.
Carolina (5-12) was playing for pride — and draft position to a lesser extent. The Falcons (8-9) fought for a playoff spot but needed help elsewhere. Tampa Bay’s win over New Orleans eliminated the Falcons as the overtime period began.
Young had another career game. He threw for 251 yards with three touchdown passes and scored twice on the ground. Undrafted rookie receiver Jalen Coker was Young’s favorite target with seven receptions for 62 yards receiving. Sanders led the Panthers with 66 yards rushing.
Possibly the most memorable moment of Sunday’s game could prove to be a career highlight for Young. With the Panthers trailing in the third quarter, Young scrambled and found tight end Tommy Tremble wide-open for a 10-yard touchdown. Young turned around and threw his arms up before Tremble even caught the pass, in a Steph Curry-esque moment.
“It was definitely not planned, just confidence in Tommy,” Young said after the game. “When I threw it I knew he was gonna catch it.”
Penix had 312 yards passing and two touchdowns. He also scored one rushing touchdown. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson had 170 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Receiver Drake London caught 10 passes for 187 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
Atlanta’s 38 points gave the Panthers 534 points allowed on the season, which breaks an NFL record previously set by the Baltimore Colts in 1981 by a single point.
The 82 combined points are the most in a Panthers-Falcons matchup. Sunday’s meeting was the 60th meeting between divisional rivals. It’s the fifth time a game in the series has ended in overtime — and the first overtime win for the Panthers over the Falcons.
The win leaves the Panthers with the eighth pick in April’s draft. Carolina could have picked as high as No. 2 but they needed a loss plus help elsewhere to achieve that. All but one of the teams picking ahead of them lost in Week 18, meaning the Panthers could not have moved up even with a loss.Β
The Raiders (4-13) lost and will pick ahead of the Panthers. The Jets (5-12) won but the Cardinals beat the 49ers, which gave the Jets a strength of schedule advantage to pick ahead of the Panthers.
This article will be updated.
