CHARLOTTE — Let's just set the scene to start.
The Panthers were facing fourth-and-3 from the Rams' 33-yard line, down by four points. It was the first drive of the second half, and if the Panthers could convert, they'd have a chance to get crucial points against the NFC's top team.
It was pouring down rain at that point, and the Panthers had run the ball already up to that point, 5.69 yards a carry through the first half, and had already converted one fourth-down in the first half on a run play to Rico Dowdle.
No one would have been surprised or questioned if the Panthers ran the ball again in such a situation.
Instead, Bryce Young dropped back and immediately locked in on Jalen Coker, who had gotten past Emmanuel Forbes in a one-on-one matchup. The Rams' corner had not given up a touchdown in coverage since Week 4. But as soon as Coker had a step on him, the receiver had a feeling he was going to be Young's target.
"As soon as I was able to get a little separation, I knew that if the ball did come, then I would have made a play on it and been able to score," Coker explained after the Panthers' 31-28 win. "He was press coverage, just try to create separation quickly, use my bigger size to kind of move him a little bit, and just come down with the football, and I wasn't going to be denied that one."
Young saw his receiver win too, and rainbowed the pass, through the rain, and right into Coker's waiting arms.
"It was a perfect pass," bragged Coker of his quarterback. "It fell right in my hands, and I was able to make a play on it."
Coker drug Forbes behind him for the final 5 yards and didn't even realize he had a hitchhiker until he fell into the end zone.
"I didn't even feel him until I was getting tackled in the end zone," laughed the receiver. But by then, with a chance to score his first touchdown of the season, nothing was keeping him from pay dirt.
"I was just hyped. I was just excited. Just kind of takes me back to Week 1 when I'm out and hurt and I just, all that stuff that's been building up, and then to finally get in the end zone and celebrate, it was good."
The score put Carolina up 24-21 in the back-and-forth game that would become an instant classic in Bank of America Stadium, mostly because they weren't done with the fourth-down heroics.
After the Rams scored to go up by four points, the Panthers had to answer. They took the ball with just under 10 minutes remaining, and worked their way downfield in short chunks and one Dowdle catch-and-run for 13 yards. From the Rams' 43-yard line, the Panthers again faced fourth down.
The Panthers lead the league in fourth-down attempts (30) and are tied with the Chiefs for most converted in the NFL (21 successful conversions). (Both teams were 3-for-3 in Week 13.)
So on a fourth-and-2 in enemy territory, no one was surprised the Panthers kept the offense on the field. The surprising part came on the play itself.
Young dropped back and scanned the field. The offensive line gave him plenty of time to survey his options, and as he did, Tetairoa McMillan broke free from Forbes across the middle of the field. McMillan, who leads all rookie receivers in yardage, had not had a catch all day, and only one target till that point. But when it mattered most, he was there to make a play.
"Shoot, I mean, it was a fourth down, so I had to make a play or somebody on the field had to make a play," said McMillan. "So, I'm just fortunate enough that the ball came to me and we was able to take the lead from there."
McMillan took the ball and outraced Forbes for the 43-yard score that gave the Panthers the go-ahead 31-28 touchdown. It was Bryce Young's 11th career game-winning drive, the most by a quarterback under the age of 25 in NFL history.
Young finished 8-of-10 for 162 yards and all three touchdowns on third or fourth downs.
Young is only the second quarterback since 2016 with multiple fourth-down touchdown passes that traveled over 10 air yards in a single game (Joe Flacco in his Bengals debut in Week 6 earlier this season was the other). Against one of the league's leading pass rush units this season, Young was pressured only seven times, his second-straight game facing fewer than 10 pressures.
"I just trust my guys," said the quarterback. "I'm super grateful to have guys like that on the perimeter that I trust in need to have situations, fourth-downs, trust them to win one-on-ones, trust them with 50/50 balls, trust them to throw them open, whatever it may be. We have a ton of competitors; they did a great job of getting those balls and putting themselves in those situations on those fourth downs."
The Panthers knew they'd have to be aggressive on Sunday if they hoped to pull the upset. The approach, which, granted, has been the one they've employed most of the season, paid off once again.
"Obviously, coming to this game, the Rams have been phenomenal, both offensively and defensively," noted McMillan. "So I mean it's the fact that both touchdowns happened on—or two touchdowns happened on fourth down, it just speaks to the confidence that we have in our room and in our offense, and also as well as the confidence that Bryce has in us to make plays."
Echoed coach Dave Canales, "Well, the who you're playing matters, and certainly with the Rams and the high-powered offense that they have, it makes me a little bit more aggressive."
The late fireworks weren't quite done for the day. With the Rams out of timeouts and the Panthers needing one more first down to put the game away, Young went to Coker again over the middle on a third-and-5. The 10-yard gain was enough for Carolina to take victory formation.
"I think I was just playing fast, playing confident, and just not letting anything affect me, no adversity or anything like that," said Coker of his day. "So just continue to play my football and not be wavered by anything else."
