– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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ATLANTA — Bryce Young lied on the ground, screaming and pounding the green-and-black pebbled field turf after what surely was another setback — both in physical health and professional development. But, in that moment that his trainers attended to him and his teammates knelt by him hoping for the best, Young, after a couple of minutes of sheer anguish, rose to his feet and limped toward the Panthers sideline, making his way to a team that was unsure of his status of the rest of the game.
What almost everyone inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium didn’t know was that Young actually didn’t rise from the turf as much as flew out of a flaming pyre like a phoenix, and the rest of the Sunday’s contest game turned into the case of young quarterback becoming a seasoned, reliable cornerstone-in-the-making in front of the nation, a leader in rank who became the rallying point for one of the most stirring wins in Carolina Panthers history./span>
Young shook off another injury to his already tender ankle in the first half to throw for a Carolina franchise record 448 yards, and his long pass completion in overtime set up Ryan Fitzgerald’s 28-yard field goal that gave the Panthers a stirring 30-27 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon. The win, coupled with Tampa Bay’s defeat in Buffalo to the Bills, moves the Panthers to within a half-game of first place in the NFC South, with the Buccaneers and Carolina slated to play twice against each other during the final four games of the season.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 56 pictures in total.
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