CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young stepped into the huddle with 2:32 remaining in Sunday's 16-13 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field and said the same thing he does before almost every drive: "Let's put one in the end zone.''
He said it confidently as he typically does. There was even a little smile on his face this time, like he was back on the playgrounds in California as a youngster.
"You dream of stuff like that as a kid ... game on the line, [like] you talk about in the backyard,'' Young said as he prepared for Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints (1 p.m. ET, Fox). "I'm blessed I get to do that in real life.
"It's not a super tense, 'What are we going to do?' It's fun. That's what you play the game for.''
This might explain why the top pick of the 2023 draft never lost confidence in himself during a 2-16 start to his NFL career that led to him being benched early last season.
This also might explain why the Panthers are 5-4, already equaling last year's win total despite Young's overall statistics being nothing special. He ranks 24th in the NFL in Total QBR with a rating of 45.1. The other 17 quarterbacks with at least three starts and a winning record have an average QBR of 63, per ESPN Research.
But in clutch moments, Young has been special, defining the first half of his third NFL season.
He has led Carolina to a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime three times this season. On those drives, he is 8-of-15 for 89 yards and a touchdown, plus leading the offense to two last-minute field goals.
As Young noted, it's all about having the opportunity to win, something he didn't experience often his first two seasons because the offense and defense were so inconsistent.
"You need to just be in the right mindset,'' Young said of his late-game success. "You're happy. We're all excited for the moment. But also, you can't be lost in that. You can't lose your way.
"It's balancing that middle ground of having fun, enjoying the moment, but also having that elite-level execution.''
Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan saw that often when he and Young were little league and high school stars in California.
"Demeanor is always contagious,'' McMillan, the eighth pick of the 2025 draft, said. "So when you know the leader of your offense is in, you know his good state, calm, collected ... he's built for moments like that.
"Everybody's energy just feeds off his.''
That's the way it was on Sept. 21, 2018 when Young engineered his first game-winning drive for Mater Dei High School. He led a nearly perfect nine-play, 75-yard series that ended with him faking an inside handoff and sprinting left for a 5-yard touchdown run to end IMG Academy's 40-game win streak.
Young didn't need a touchdown last week against Green Bay. He just needed to get rookie kicker Ryan Fitzgerald in position for the game-winning kick, a 49-yard effort as time expired.
That gave Young his fourth straight victory and his ninth game-winning drive since 2023, tied with Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles and Geno Smith of the Las Vegas Raiders for the most in the NFL during that span.
RYAN FITZGERALD KICKS TO WIN IT pic.twitter.com/kPIeXJGZeR
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) November 2, 2025
Despite Young's 11-27 record overall, teammates have seen his one-possession heroics enough now that they believe he'll get the job done.
"He has the killer mentality when it's time,'' wide receiver Xavier Legette said.
It has helped that the defense is allowing only 3.4 points per game in the fourth quarter of one-possession games this season. That's tied for seventh best in the NFL, compared to last year when they were third worst in such games (6.8 points).
Most games were out of hand by the fourth quarter in 2024; Young didn't get his first game-winning drive until Week 9 and didn't have three until Week 16.
Having a power running game led by Rico Dowdle also has helped. Dowdle's 19-yard run up the middle with 40 seconds left against the Packers put Fitzgerald in range for the game-winner so Young didn't have to do anything special.
Overall, Young's QBR was better in 2024 (50.7) than this season (45.1). Where he has improved the most is on game-winning drives and in avoiding pressure. He's been sacked only 1.5 times per game, compared to 2.07 last season.
His mobility was noticed the most in a 40-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills when backup Andy Dalton was sacked seven times with Young out with a high ankle sprain.
But it's the game-winning drives that have Carolina at least in position to make a playoff push despite a difficult upcoming schedule. After the next two games versus the Saints (1-8) and Falcons (3-5), they'll have games against the San Francisco 49ers (6-3), Los Angeles Rams (6-2), and the Seattle Seahawks (6-2), plus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2) twice.
Being in position is what offensive coordinator Brad Idzik spoke to the team about on Monday.
"Stats aside, there's always a path to a win for us,'' he said. "And every week it's going to look a little different. We prepare the quarterbacks, and Bryce specifically, with a game plan of, 'Hey, if this is what they want to do defensively, here's some great answers ... here's some great attacks within each play.'
"Bryce owns all those variations in practice.''
And so far in games.
"Put him in a high-stakes situation he comes through for us,'' coach Dave Canales said.
Young has personified during the first half of the season Canales' training camp message to just finish games.
"It starts with Bryce,'' Canales said. "Bryce is the one that leads the charge. He's the one that pushes the urgency in practice, talking to the guys, being engaged all throughout each day.''
That has shown up in one-score games in which Young is 4-0 this season. And it all starts with his simple message: "Let's put one in the end zone.''
"It's not a rehearsed speech,'' Young said. "You feel out the vibe of the team, of how the game's going. And you try to add a supplement, whatever it is that you need just for us to be in the right mindset. You're happy, and we're all excited for the moment.''