Carolina Panthers rebound, blow out Falcons behind Bryce Young, Devin Lloyd
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The Carolina Panthers had Bryce Young at quarterback Sunday, and he’s never better than when he’s playing Atlanta.
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The Atlanta Falcons had Cooper Rush at quarterback, because their top two QBs were hurt.
That was the biggest difference in a nutshell Sunday, as the Panthers blew out the Falcons, 34-3, to even their record at 1-1 early in the 2026 NFL season.
Young threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns Sunday — and that was in the first half. By then, Carolina led 20-3 and boos were raining down on the Falcons offense on every single series from the home crowd.
Young is now 5-1 in his career against Atlanta and 10-30 against everyone else in the NFL. He ended up with three touchdown passes Sunday, directing the entire game like he had a baton.
But Young also had a co-director — new inside linebacker Devin Lloyd. He had a Luke Kuechly-esque sort of game in only his second real game for the Panthers, dominating for long stretches on defense.
Humiliated a week before when it gave up a franchise-high 59 points to Chicago, the Panthers defense rebounded strongly against Rush and the Falcons. On the game’s very first play from scrimmage, rookie safety Zakee Wheatley punched the ball out of Rush’s hands on a scramble, and off the Panthers went. An interception by Bobby Okereke soon followed, as did innumerable huge plays from Lloyd.
Lloyd looked worth every penny of that $45-million contract the Panthers gave him in the offseason, as he wrecked a fourth-down reverse and finished another series with a third-down sack. Then in the third quarter alone, Lloyd reeled in a one-handed interception and ran it back 53 yards, followed by picking off another pass and returning it for a pick-six TD.
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A caveat to all this good news: Rush is only supposed to be a backup. But the Falcons’ two primary quarterbacks — Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. — were both hurt. That was a big break for the Panthers, and they took advantage of it, with Rush making about 1/100th of the plays on the field that Caleb Williams did the week before for Chicago.
The biggest cheer of the day in Atlanta came when the Falcons finally benched Rush in favor of undrafted rookie Jack Strand. But Strand’s first pass was then tipped, intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Lloyd as the Panthers took a 34-3 lead.
Carolina’s defense against all-everything running back Bijan Robinson was also laudable. He had to work hard for every yard he got.
Several Panthers players made their biggest plays of the young season so far, including wide receiver Xavier Legette, who got open on a deep ball and hauled it in for a 55-yard catch. New tight end Darren Waller followed that with a 7-yard TD catch on a tricky sideline route, and then added another TD early in the third quarter.
Carolina also tried some trickery, putting starting wide receiver Jalen Coker back for punt returns. He took his very first attempt back 36 yards to set up a field goal.
It was a day when everything worked for Carolina. After that 22-point loss in Week 1, it was sorely needed.
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