Carolina Panthers studs & duds from dominant win over Atlanta Falcons

The Carolina Panthers finally came out ready to play professional football today, and they wound up posting a dominant win, their first of the 2025 season. Their home opener ended in a 30-0 shutout victory over the very-much unimpressive division rival Atlanta Falcons. A win is still a win, though.

Here are our studs and duds for the Panthers this week.

Stud: QB Bryce Young

His numbers may not have been spectacular. However, what really matters is that after two sloppy games to start the season, Bryce Young finally played a clean game of football. Young has developed a strong connection with his WR1 Tetairoa McMillan and he continues to use his legs when he has the opportunity. BY9 ended up posting a line of 16/24 for 121 passing yards and a rushing touchdown.

Stud: WR Tetairoa McMillan

Rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan's game is still a little raw and he's missing a catch or two each game that he'll eventually need to make. That being said, there's still far more good than bad than bad, here. His incredible catch radius and RAC game make him an elite playmaker for this offense. McMillan finished the game with three catches for 48 receiving yards.

Stud: DC Ejiro Evero

It's fair to point out that the Falcons weren't exactly on their A-game, but defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero did a great job preparing his guys, today. They managed to hold Bijan Robinson to 72 yards on 13 carries. They also got plenty of pressure on Michael Penix and Evero seemed to know exactly when to call his blitzes and is learning how best to use his new pieces. Penix was flustered enough to finish with no touchdowns and two interceptions.

Dud: LB Christian Rozeboom

It wasn't a perfect defensive perfomance, though. There's still a pretty big hole in the middle of the field on this side of the ball, where middle linebacker Christian Rozeboom continues to miss tackles that he should make. Josey Jewell's concussion is not the front office's fault, but not trying to find a serious replacement for him certainly is.

Dud: RB/PR Trevor Etienne

Carolina's special teams unit looks better this year than last, but it's a low bar. One area they're still struggling is on punt returns, where they can't seem to find anybody who knows what they're doing. Rookie Trevor Etienne fumbled what should have been an easy catch in the first half and was replaced by fair catch specialist David Moore. Jimmy Horn Jr. should at least get a chance to show what he can do in this role. It's hard to imagine how he can do any worse.

Stud: K Ryan Fitzgerald

The Panthers seemed to have hit the right buttons when they replaced Eddy Pineiro with undrafted rookie Ryan Fitzgerald. He has yet to miss a field goal this season, and they haven't all been chip shots, either. Fitzgerald connected on a 57-yarder against the Falcons today, proving the has some legit range and power.