Grading Panthers in gritty win vs. the Falcons: How Bryce Young, Chuba Hubbard performed

A rainy, sloppy slugfest in Charlotte led to the first bit of sunshine for the Panthers in nearly two months.

It took two turnovers from the defense and three field goals by kicker Eddy Piñeiro for the Panthers to upset the Atlanta Falcons, 9-7, in soggy conditions on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium. The win was Carolina’s first since a Week 8 comeback victory against the Houston Texans at home, as the Panthers had lost six consecutive games after squeaking out that tepid triumph against CJ Stroud and his AFC South squad.

While rookie quarterback Bryce Young failed to throw for a touchdown pass for a fourth consecutive game, he avoided turnovers and made a handful of key second-half plays to lead two scoring drives for Carolina. The offense leaned on running back Chuba Hubbard as clouds hung over uptown, and that strategy worked all the way to a 23-yard game-winning field goal by Piñeiro.

The Panthers are in spoiler mode after starting 1-12 and firing head coach Frank Reich. With interim coach Chris Tabor leading the way, Carolina was able to fulfill its role as an angry underdog in a gritty win at home for the fans who braved the rain.

Here is how the Panthers (2-12) graded out against Atlanta (6-8):

Rushing offense

Hubbard got off to an impressive start with a 22-yard run on his first carry. The Panthers leaned on Hubbard and Miles Sanders early with 12 carries between the two players. While Sanders was held without a yard on four carries, Hubbard toted the ball for 25 yards on eight carries in the first. Wideout Ihmir Smith-Marsette chipped in with an 11-yard end around as well.

Hubbard exploded for a 21-yard run on the first play of the second half. The offense continued to lean on Hubbard throughout the third quarter as he picked up big chunks on the ground. He had 49 rushing yards on six carries during the two series of the third quarter.

The Panthers continued to use Smith-Marsette on the ground as well, as he bobbed and weaved through defenders.

Carolina rode Hubbard on the game-winning drive as the running back was able churn the clock and pick up yardage on the ground in the red zone. He finished with 87 rushing yards on 22 carries. Smith-Marsette picked up 31 yards on four carries.

Grade: B+

Passing offense

The Carolina offense stuck mostly to the ground attack until the final series of the first half. Young anchored a field-goal scoring drive with a pair of big completions to Hubbard and tight end Stephen Sullivan. Wide receiver Adam Thielen also came up with a pair of key grabs on the drive as well. Young completed 9 of 13 passes for 79 yards in the first half. Thielen led the receiving group with three catches for 37 yards on five first-half targets.

Young was able to lead the Panthers to a fourth-and-7 situation in Atlanta territory after a 13-yard connection to tight end Tommy Tremble. However, Young connected with Thielen in front of the sticks and the wideout was ruled down — even after a challenge — inches away from the conversion marker, forcing a turnover on downs.

Young nearly had a disastrous turnover in the third quarter, as right guard Gabe Jackson gave up a sack to Atlanta defensive lineman Ta’Quon Graham. On the sack, Graham knocked the ball out of Young’s hand, but the quarterback was able to recover it.

A few plays later, Young was helped out as wideout DJ Chark drew a pass interference penalty to set up a fresh set of downs. Young later was hurt by a holding penalty on Jackson, as he hit a wide-open Chark for a big gain that was wiped out by the flag.

After a turnover recovery by the defense, the Panthers got set up within the red zone for the offense. Unfortunately for Carolina, the Panthers had to settle for a field goal after Young and Thielen failed to connect on a third-down pass near the end zone. Young put the ball on Thielen, who dived and dropped the pass.

After an interception by the defense in the fourth quarter, the Panthers’ offense started in front of its own end zone. A 19-yard connection between Young and Tremble gave the Panthers some space to operate on the series. The Falcons were then called for defensive holding to create a bit more progress on the field as well. Young later underthrew a pass to rookie Jonathan Mingo, who was still able to collect the ball and pick up 20 yards to get the Panthers into Atlanta territory. Young then hit Chark on the sideline for an 18-yard gain, as the wide receiver made an excellent diving catch toward the boundary. The surge of offense led to the game-winning 23-yard field goal.

Young led three scoring drives — including the game-winning series, as he went 5-for-5 for 68 passing yards. He completed 18 of 24 passes (75%) for 167 yards and a 93.6 passer rating. His top target was Thielen, who caught four of seven targets for 43 yards. Mingo added 32 yards on four catches. Young was sacked three times and hit five times.

Grade: C+

Rushing defense

While the run defense has been viewed as a weakness all season, the group did a really nice job early in the game. The Panthers had four tackles for loss on Atlanta’s first four series. The Panthers held the Falcons to just 41 yards on their first 20 carries as an offense in the first half.

The run defense continued its strong play in the third quarter. Pass rusher Marquis Haynes did an excellent job making a third-down stop in the middle of the field to force a punt on Atlanta’s first series of the second half.

One of the biggest plays of the game for the defense came against a Bijan Robinson run in the third quarter. Cornerback Troy Hill knocked the ball out of the Robinson’s hands for a fumble and pass rusher Brian Burns recovered the ball for a turnover at the Atlanta 24-yard line, setting the offense up in scoring position.

The Panthers created a turnover on the ground and held Atlanta’s rushing attack — which is its noted strength — to just 52 rushing yards on 31 carries. The Falcons averaged just 1.7 yards per carry.

Grade: A

Passing defense

After holding the Atlanta pass game at bay for the majority of the first half, the Carolina defense got caught in a coverage mismatch midway through the second quarter. Falcons tight end Jonnu Smith broke free from linebacker Frankie Luvu on a deep crossing route and quarterback Desmond Ridder hit the playmaker for a 56-yard connection. The big play set the Falcons up for the first score of the game, as Ridder pushed a shovel pass to running back Cordarrelle Patterson for a 2-yard touchdown, putting Atlanta up, 7-0.

Ridder completed 63.6% of his passes for 96 yards and a touchdown in the first half. All but 40 yards came off the deep throw to Smith.

Luvu allowed another big chunk play in coverage during the third quarter, as tight end Kyle Pitts got by him for a 26-yard gain to put Atlanta in Carolina territory. Luckily for Carolina, Ridder fumbled a snap on the next play which kept the Falcons out of phase on second down, which eventually forced them to punt.

Safety Xavier Woods collected a huge, game-changing interception in the fourth quarter after Ridder essentially threw the ball directly to him. Woods, who dropped a handful of would-be interceptions last season, snagged the ball right in front of the Panthers’ end zone, saving points in a tight one-point game. Woods became the only Panthers player with multiple interceptions on the season.

Ridder finished the game with a 60% completion percentage. The Atlanta quarterback produced 152 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception. That turnover turned out to be a major difference in the game, as it stopped Atlanta from forcing the Panthers to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Grade: B+

Special teams

The Panthers forced a pair of false starts on punt attempts by the Falcons, improving their field position even before fielding punts.

Tabor, a special teams coordinator by trade, also made a savvy decision by calling a timeout before the end of the first quarter to avoid punting into the wind, which paid off with a 53-yard punt by Johnny Hekker to the Atlanta 17-yard line.

Hekker was particularly impactful early with his consistency on punts. He hit a pair of 53-yarders to pin the Falcons within their 20-yard line. On both occasions, the defense was able to force the Falcons off the field quickly.

Smith-Marsette did muff a punt in the second quarter, but recovered before any impending doom.

Piñeiro connected on a pair of short field goals to pace the Panthers, along with the game-winning 23-yard attempt in the final second.. He was replaced on a pair of squib kicks by linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, who played high school soccer.

Grade: A

Overall grade

The Panthers have struggled to play complementary football, but the ground attack, the defense and the special teams unit were all competent enough to pull off the upset.

The turnovers by Woods and Burns were huge, and Piñeiro didn’t falter, despite the rainy conditions. Young did enough to move the offense, as Hubbard and Smith-Marsette made the most of their carries. This wasn’t a pretty win, but after the Panthers struggled to do anything for roughly two months, they’ll take this rough-and-tumble victory any day of the week, especially Sundays.

OVERALL GRADE: B+