ATLANTA -- Bryce Young fought off the criticism that accompanied his modest 124 yards passing in an ugly loss to New Orleans last week.
Young also fought through first-quarter pain in his right ankle against Atlanta, which forced him to be checked in the locker room and appeared to threaten his ability to return.
The result of Young's resilience was the most yards passing in a game in Carolina Panthers history.
Young threw for 448 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions and Ryan Fitzgerald kicked a 28-yard field goal in overtime to lift the Panthers to a 30-27 win over the Falcons on Sunday.
Young's 54-yard pass to Tommy Tremble set up the winning kick for Carolina (6-5), which completed its sweep of reeling NFC South rival Atlanta.
The Panthers moved to within one-half game of first-place Tampa Bay in the division following the Buccaneers' 44-32 loss to Buffalo.
Young completed 31 of 45 passes despite being escorted to the locker room late in the first quarter with a right ankle injury. He missed only one snap.
"I was able to come back and get re-taped," Young said. "Regardless, I just wanted to be back with my guys.
"I don't take these games for granted. You know, the Lord blessed me to be here, to have this opportunity. And any time that I am able to go, I always want to do that. So in the moment, you're just working through pain."
Young threw a go-ahead 12-yard touchdown pass to Tetairoa McMillan with 1:08 remaining to give Carolina a 27-24 lead. But Zane Gonzalez kicked a 45-yard field goal for Atlanta with 16 seconds remaining to force overtime.
McMillan had eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
Carolina rallied after trailing 21-7 in the second quarter.
"It's part of our identity; we embrace that," Young said. "It's just resilience. We talk about it. Whatever it was, it's on to the next play."
Young was 7 of 8 for 67 yards, including a 7-yard scoring pass to McMillan, on Carolina's opening drive. The strong start gave him half of his full-game total of 124 yards passing in last week's 17-7 loss to New Orleans.
Cam Newton held the previous Carolina record with 432 passing yards against Green Bay on Sept. 18, 2011.
"It's definitely an honor. I have so much respect for Cam and all he has accomplished," Young said. "To be able to be mentioned with Cam, it's definitely an honor."
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press
