Before kickoff, Bank of America Stadium looked and sounded like it had been transported back to 2015. Cam Newton was back home. The dab made its return. Steve Smith Sr. had the crowd whipped into a frenzy. The building felt ready to lift off.

And then the game lived up to it.

Once Chuba Hubbard broke the seal with a touchdown midway through the second quarter, Carolina had answers for everything the Rams threw at them.

Bryce Young went blow-for-blow with the likely league MVP and, frankly, outplayed him for most of the night.

Bryce lead the offense up the field and hit Jalen Coker with a beauty of a pass in the corner of the end zone to give Carolina a 31-27 lead with just over two minutes to go. The win appeared to be in view.

The margins of playoff football hit hard.

With Jaycee Horn sidelined in the injury tent—later ruled out per Dave Canales—Matt Stafford marched 71 yards against a prevent defense that gave him far too much space and the Rams took a 34-31 lead that they never relinquished.

There will be questions about the defense and about Ejiro Evero moving forward, but the larger picture matters more. Carolina is no longer chasing offense in the draft. That side of the ball is forming. Now it’s time to invest heavily on defense.

Most importantly, the Panthers should feel confident in where this season landed—and in who Bryce Young is.

Since his benching, he has repeatedly delivered in clutch moments and put Carolina in position to win games like this. The fifth-year option should be a formality. There should be no debate left about the franchise quarterback.

As Mike Jackson said afterward, these aren’t the “old Panthers” anymore.

Nobody expected Carolina to be here, much less one drive away from a playoff win. Now they’re relevant again. The foundation is set. The next step is building something that lasts.