Today is going to be one of those days where the questions start to pile up about Bryce Young and whether or not he's capable of being the franchise guy for the Panthers. Honestly, rightfully so after the Panthers returned home and treated fans to a 17-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

The biggest theme of the day for Carolina were their struggles to move the ball in the air. It completely lacked juice. Part of that was because the Saints made it their priority to make Rico Dowdle look human. They stacked the box on him.

The beginning of the game felt like the Panthers were picking up right wrere they left off in Green Bay. A twelve play opening drive for the Panthers led to a Rico Dowdle touchdown. After that, nothing quite looked the same offensively. 

The Panthers went four-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out on their next four drives of the half. Another stat that is absolutely stunning from this game is the fact that the Panthers only had one play that went for 15+ yards.

Bryce Young has certainly shown moments where he's looked like a franchise quarterback with how he's performed in many late fourth quarter drives, but moments aren't going to cut it when you're a number one overall pick.

In just as many moments where he's looked like a solid quarterback, there are just as many, if not more, where he looks in over his head, has multiple turnovers in a game, or just simply can't move the ball with any juice. 

Bryce Young, had a horrendous interception at the beginning of the fourth quarter where it almost looked like he didn't even know where he was going with the ball. That would ultimately be the play that gave the Saints terrific field position to shortly after get a touchdown that made it 17-7, and made the game feel like it was a wrap.

Even if you look at the one touchdown drive the Panthers had, Bryce Young was a gifted a roughing the passer call on a play where he threw an interception in the red zone a few plays prior to the Rico Dowdle touchdown.

It's not just fans and media that are being critical of Bryce Young. When Bryce walked into the room for his post-game presser, it was probably the most visibly pissed he's ever looked at the podium. He can likely feel the clock ticking, as well.

If the Panthers want to take the next step as a franchise, you can't lose games like this at home to a previously 1-7 Saints team. They also need to find a way to win games when the run isn't working. That has been a problem for them, also.

Now sitting at 5-5, today was certainly the Panthers' ugliest loss of the year and they know it. We'll see what the response is in another divisional matchup a week from today in Atlanta.