The playoffs have a way of stripping everything down to its core.
The noise fades, the excuses disappear, and what’s left is a signal-caller with the ball in his hands and a season hanging in the balance. For Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers, that reality arrives this weekend at Bank of America Stadium.
First playoff start. Home field. A heavyweight opponent. It's the moment Carolina envisioned when it made Young the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Carolina enters the wild-card playoff round as the NFC South champion and the No.