Carolina Panthers takeaways from thrilling OT win over Falcons

Say what you want about Bryce Young's play, but he is durable and tough. He has been pretty much healthy his entire career, but he missed one game with a high ankle sprain earlier this year. That's typically a 2-8 week injury. Then, today, that same ankle got stepped on again, and he was in a ton of pain, yet he didn't miss a single snap despite being clearly hobbled. He saved us from an Andy Dalton special yet again.

Bryce Young also played well

Toughness is one thing, but it doesn't win games or score touchdowns. Good play does, and Bryce Young exhibited that today against a pretty solid defense and with little help from the run game. He piushed the ball down the field, including a beatiful back-to-back sequence capped off by a dime to Xavier Legette for a 36-yard score to open the second half.

Chandler Zavala had a day to forget

Chandler Zavala had two backbreaking mistakes today. His inability to pick up the blitz after Bryce Young signaled it led to Young's injury. Later, on fourth and one yard with the game in the balance, he tripped Young, and the ailing QB couldn't get up in time to get a play off. The O-Line depth being thin hurt today.

Ejiro Evero's zone was horrible

While he was not the primary defender on the reception, there was an inexplicable play in which Ejiro Evero had rookie edge Princely Umanmielen drop into zone coverage against Drake London. It was emblematic of a huge problem all day: the zone wasn't working. Atlanta's receivers found the soft spots, and Penix exploited them.

The defense was generally not great

Barring a few odd stops, the Atlanta Falcons did whatever they wanted today. Bijan Robinson was as unguardable as he usually is, but the Panthers couldn't tackle anyone, nor could they cover any pass-catchers. The first TD drive they gave up was the result of two wide-open Drake London passes and a Robinson touchdown on which he was wrapped up by three Panthers in the backfield.

It was ugly in the first half, but it did improve in the second half. However, Michael Penix was injured, and the Panthers controlled the ball a lot more, which helped. And when it mattered, they couldn't stop Kirk Cousins from tying the game.

The penalties hurt badly

Carolina's poor coaching reared its ugly head again. Schematically, the defense wasn't up to snuff, but they also couldn't get out of their own way. They committed penalties on the rare occasions they actually did prevent a positive play. And on offense, penalties played a big role, too. Credit to the coaches, though, they shored it up big time at halftime.

Tetairoa McMillan is unguardable

Even when Young and Tetairoa McMillan weren't able to connect, it was because of a superb defensive play more often than not. He was open a lot, and Falcons DBs didn't know what to do with him. His toughness, YAC ability, and hands (which have been faulty at times this season) were all on full display.

The running game was bad

The offensive line failed to really get a good push up front most of the time, and the Panthers were throwing the ball really well. But they got nothing out of the backfield. Rico Dowdle was mediocre, and Chuba Hubbard was probably a little better on fewer touches. It's something to monitor as that has been Carolina's bread and butter all season.