This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Happy Monday. I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Thank you for rocking with us this morning. We appreciate your time.
I very, very rarely agree with Tom Brady. But on Sunday after seeing how well Andy Dalton played after taking Bryce Young’s place as the starting quarterback for the Panthers, I found myself reflecting on his words.
Brady called it a “tragedy” that young quarterbacks are being forced by their teams to play early. He said the game is dumbed down, which I don’t necessarily agree with, enabling it to happen. But a lot of young QBs are missing the valuable developmental practice reps that used to be so common in the NFL.
When you hear that, how can you not think of Bryce Young? Especially after watching Dalton thrive in the Panther’s offense on Sunday.
On Sunday, he threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns with a 70.3 percent completion percentage in his first start this season. Young has thrown for 339 yards in his last three starts combined. The difference was stark. This was competent NFL quarterback play — something the Panthers haven’t seen in years. And, yet, a simple lineup change made it all possible.
Many saw this as proof that Bryce Young doesn’t have the juice. But, to me, this says much more about the Panthers than it does about Young.
READ MORE: Five trade destinations for Bryce Young
The former Alabama quarterback certainly came into the NFL with flaws that would turn most evaluators away. There’s the obvious one: He’s too small, at 5-foot-10. The arm talent wasn’t the greatest, either. But he was accurate with the ball, great at navigating the pocket and had dynamite instincts as a quarterback.
Those instincts? They’re gone. His accuracy is diminished by his hesitancy. He doesn’t seem to trust himself anymore. That’s what being thrown into a fraught situation will do to you.
Good leadership ensures that the folks you’re leading are placed in the best positions to succeed. Carolina’s leadership never did that with Bryce Young. He’s had three head coaches in 18 months. That’s no proper way to operate, but that’s been the only way under David Tepper.
The Panther’s owner isn’t afraid to make rash decisions to get the immediate results he wants. That’s how the Panthers ended up with Young in the first place. It’s also probably why he’s benched now.
In a perfect world, Young probably sits for a season or two while all this chaos unfolds within the organization and one day emerges when he’s ready. Instead, he was thrown out into the ocean with a wooden plank from day one. Carolina has had no stability, yet he was still expected to make a way.
Now, Young goes into the cautionary tale basket. He’ll fester with names like Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch and Jamarcus Russell. Maybe there’s an Alex Smith twist in there for him somewhere — Alex Smith himself sure does hope so!
I’m not sure I agree. I hope I’m wrong, but Young seems too far gone at this point. That’s quite a shame because you can’t help but feel things didn’t have to work out this way.
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The Eagles have a Jalen Hurts problem
It wasn’t that long ago that Jalen Hurts marched the Philadelphia Eagles down the field in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs and tied the game up against the best team in the NFL with arguably the best quarterback we’ve ever seen.
It’s been slowly, but surely, downhill ever since. The Eagles beat the Saints 15-12 on Sunday, but Hurts’ ugly turnover problems popped up again.
Christian D’Andrea wrote more on his struggles here in his week 3 recap:
“Since Week 13 of the 2023 season — the genesis of the spiral that crushed the team’s Super Bowl hopes — Hurts has been good for roughly 2.86 EPA per game. That’s in the positives, which is good. It’s also 19th best among all quarterbacks, which is firmly mediocre.
Philadelphia can win with mediocrity, but it’s paying for greatness. Hurts signed a five-year, $255 million contract after that 2022 breakthrough that was richly deserved. After inking a significant investment, the returns have slowly dwindled and a player who threw six interceptions across an All-Pro third season in the league has suddenly become one of the game’s most turnover-prone quarterbacks.”
Nick Sirianni deserves a ton of the heat he’s getting for his poor decision-making in these last few games. But Hurts also keeps points off the board by simply giving the ball too much to the other team.
It’s hard to trust this team to do anything moving forward if that isn’t cleaned up.
A’ja Wilson’s run just keeps getting better
I have no idea how this season will end for A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces. But, regardless of how it does, we should acknowledge that the run she’s been on for the last three seasons is on par with some of the greatest we’ve seen in basketball.
Wilson unanimously won her third MVP on Sunday ahead of the Aces Game 1 win over the Storm. That means in the last four years, Wilson has won:
— Three MVP awards
— Two Defensive Player of the Year awards (and maybe a third this season, so we may need to revisit this).
— Two WNBA Finals championships
— The 2023 WNBA Finals MVP award
Only the greatest of the greats have resumes like this. Wilson firmly placed herself in that echelon and still has plenty of room to climb.
She could be the best we’ve ever seen when it’s all said and done. What a journey we’re witnessing.
Quick hits: Is Matt Eberflus’ time already up? … Let’s all be normal about Caitlin Clark’s eye … and more
— Robert Zeglinski calls Matt Eberflus’ future into question in his latest NFL Awards column. It might be best for Caleb Williams’ future.
— Caitlin Clark isn’t blaming her black eye on her poor performance and neither should you. Meg Hall has more.
— Raheem Morris’ response to this missed pass interference call on the Chiefs is perfect. Charles Curtis has more.
— Here’s Christian with the worst quarterback performances of Week 3.
— Big hat sad Cowboys fan makes everybody else happy. Here’s Mary Clarke with more.
— Speaking of Caitlin Clark, here’s her first playoff bucket. Prince Grimes has it covered.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate the time! Peace.
-Sykes ✌️
