Bryce Young and Panthers teammates still have questions on officiating vs. Bucs
Safety Nick Scott isn’t sure he’d seen that from his mild-mannered quarterback before.
The Carolina Panthers’ offense had just trudged off the field. The field goal team had jogged on. The offense’s opening drive of the second half was a promising one. Quarterback Bryce Young had strung together two first downs, finding life despite the team’s run game simply not working.
But Young wasn’t happy with how the possession ended. And after walking off the field, Scott saw his third-year quarterback engaged in a heated discussion with a side judge, pleading his case about the play that derailed the drive.
That all surprised Scott, a veteran safety for the Panthers.
Also? Scott loved it.
“He’s our leader,” Scott told The Charlotte Observer after the Panthers’ 16-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Raymond James Stadium on Saturday. “And so, if he was passionate about that call, you mentioned it, he’s rarely like that. So if he really felt like he had to say something to him, I totally trust that. He’s got the ball in his hands, he sees the trajectory, he knows what he’s doing out there.
“I totally understand and am behind him pleading his case. And then I think he did a good job of just moving on afterward, and made some plays.”
The play that peeved Young so badly was one of three that caused an uproar on the Panthers’ sideline Saturday. It arrived on a first-down passing play where Young, under pressure, fired a ball to the flat to Rico Dowdle. The running back couldn’t haul in the high pass, and then a whistle blew the play dead.
Officials later ruled on the field that the pass was actually a lateral. What the Panthers thought was a second-and-10 turned into a second-and-17. Young, as the play clock winded down ahead of the second-down play, was yelling in an attempt to get the attention of the lead official. No dice. After the series concluded — which resulted in a missed 54-yard field goal, no less — Young still was searching for answers.
Again, to no avail.
“I was confused originally because we got scooted back,” Young said postgame, his frustration clearly muted by time. “There wasn’t like a — they didn’t tell us anything. Just now we’re in a different position. You know, again, tough break. It is what it is, that’s not why we lost, that’s not why we didn’t get it done.
“I look in the mirror first. There’s stuff that I could have done better. We’re all guys that take ownership. That’s not the reason. Credit to our opponent, we weren’t good enough today.”
The play still confounded many after the game. That included members of the ESPN broadcast booth calling the game. That included NFL reporters and personalities online, from ESPN’s Pat McAfee to The Ringer’s Bill Simmons. That included those in the Panthers’ locker room, too.
A postgame pool report attempted to clear such issues up. Referee Brad Allen told Fox Sports reporter Greg Auman that “what was reported to me was the ruling on the field was a backward pass, and once it was possessed, the receiver or runner gave himself up, which by rule caused the play to become dead.”
Allen added: “Because of the erroneous whistle, the Panthers could have had a choice to replay the down.”
So were the Panthers given the choice to replay the down? What does “could” mean here? The pool report came out after Dave Canales addressed the slew of calls in his postgame presser, but the Panthers’ head coach made it clear: He refused to place this loss on the refs.
However tempting it could be.
And however consequential the game is. After all, with a win, the Panthers could have clinched the NFC South title and their first playoff berth since 2017. Now, they’ll have to watch the Atlanta Falcons-New Orleans Saints game Sunday at 1 p.m. and pray for a Falcons win to advance into the postseason via tiebreaker.
“It certainly is a factor, but there’s a whole game we got to consider, and we didn’t get enough done,” Canales said. “That’s what we got to look at ourselves and the things that we missed, and I’m sure there are going to be some opportunities when we watch the film that we’re going to wish we would have had.”
Ickey Ekwonu, Tetairoa McMillan and Tommy Tremble all weigh in on officiating
Young and Canales weren’t the only two asked about officiating Saturday. They were far from the only two impacted by it, either.
Starting left tackle Ickey Ekwonu said he didn’t see the aforementioned pass to Dowdle — he couldn’t render if it was a lateral or not — but he noticed how much open space Dowdle had in front of him if the play wasn’t blown dead by the officiating crew, he said.
“There was a lot of space over there,” Ekwonu said. “I feel like if the play was able to be continued, and it was a backward pass ... I feel like we could’ve gotten an explosive play off of that. Obviously disappointed.”
That wasn’t the only play that was under fire Saturday, either.
Another came on a called offensive pass interference on rookie Tetairoa McMillan, negating a 30-plus-yard pass play — what would have been one of the Panthers’ few explosive plays. (Official Allen, via the same pool report, weighed in on this call, too, stating that the “covering official saw that the receiver created separation more than one yard downfield, which by rule is illegal.”)
McMillan had his own thoughts postgame, with a wry smile to boot.
“Like I said earlier, it’s hard,” McMillan said. “I kind of wanted to come into this game being an aggressor, and I did on that specific play. Shoot, I guess it didn’t work out.”
And the other was a missed facemask call on a Bucs defender, who ripped off tight end Tommy Tremble’s helmet after the play concluded.
Tremble didn’t mince words when he walked reporters through the play. He said he was surprised the play yielded no penalty.
“I thought a flag was thrown,” Tremble said. “So I was surprised when we got back in the huddle and we didn’t (move up 15 yards). But it is what it is. Nothing we can do about it now.”
Said Tremble on how the play transpired: “The guy got mad. I blew him up and drove him back. So I was surprised he ripped my helmet off. I wouldn’t think you’d want to do that in a game this big. But there was no call, so there’s nothing I could do about it.”
‘Just upset obviously’
The reality, players and coaches said, was that even with the calls, the Panthers failed to make enough plays to win Saturday’s contest.
They turned the ball over thrice — just twice not counting the final, backyard football lateral-til-the-game-expires play — and gained only 19 net rushing yards. They also went a measly 1 for 8 on third downs.
That was the sentiment most players had. Nick Scott certainly felt that way, and he too was subject to a questionable defensive pass interference, when Cade Otton appeared to trip over his own legs on a pass downfield. Wide receiver Jalen Coker also felt that way; he was a rare bright spot in an overcast day in Raymond James Stadium for the Panthers, literally and figuratively. Coker finished with six catches on seven targets for 47 yards and one touchdown.
“Just upset obviously,” Coker said when asked about his emotions. He said something similar when asked about the penalties: “It is what it is.”
He was then asked about what Canales told his teammates postgame: “He appreciates us, our hard work, and that we’re building something here. And we’re going to continue to do that.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
