Bryce Young had the look he wanted. With 54 seconds to go, trailing by six and with no timeouts in his pocket against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Carolina Panthers quarterback saw the opposing secondary presenting a coverage that would allow Xavier Legette to sneak behind the defense on the post route head coach Dave Canales had dialed up.
Young took the second-and-4 snap and from the Philadelphia 32-yard line. As the pocket formed around him, he confidently stepped up into the middle as Legette made his break toward the end zone. Young fired in his direction, and everything about the play had the makings of a touchdown that would tie the game at 22 prior to an extra point. The Panthers were on the cusp of knocking off arguably the NFL’s hottest team in the Eagles, who entered with an eight-game winning streak.
But the officials never signaled touchdown. Replay made it clear what they saw on the field; Legette, the 32nd overall pick in the draft out of South Carolina, never secured the ball before the pigskin hit the turf, and the ground clearly caused the ball to move.
Incomplete. The Panthers had two more chances to gain 4 yards and secure a new set of downs. No dice.
“(Expletive), I thought I caught that (expletive),” Legette told reporters after the game.
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Legette said he didn’t know the ball hit the ground until a replay was shown on the Lincoln Financial Field jumbotron.
Asked if he felt like he had control before the ball hit the ground he said: “Hell yeah.”
Inside of two minutes, and without any timeouts, Canales had no way to ask for an official review.
“I thought it would have been the protocol,’ Canales said of a potential review. ‘The ball moved around a little bit … the officials saw it, we saw it on the sideline, it was close. Gonna have to look at it again.”
Canales said that the mishap was ‘absolutely’ a play he expects Legette to make.
‘That’s a big play we’re counting on. He’d be the first one to tell you he’s got to make that play,’ Canales said. ‘Bryce steps up, makes a beautiful throw in that situation, had the coverage we wanted. Those are the types of plays we have to make to get back in the winning column.’
The Panthers have been lining up Legette as the ‘X’ receiver, a position that presents plenty of target opportunities, Canales said. Legette finished with two catches for 39 yards on eight targets.
Legette was on the other side of Young’s most impressive play of the day. As Carolina started the final drive from its own 3-yard line, Young evaded a sack that would have resulted in a safety and dropped a dime to Legette near the left sideline while almost throwing across his body.
“Felt like we were gonna be 97 yards with a chance to win,” Canales said.
Legette came up slow after the pickup of 31 yards and was briefly evaluated on the sideline before returning.
‘We’re counting on him … these are all things that we take and we learn and we grow (from), and I truly believe that we’re going to be in high-stakes games going against great teams and great players and we’re going to have to make those plays,’ said Canales, alluding to his team’s loss last Sunday in overtime against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which came after running back Chuba Hubbard fumbled as the Panthers were in game-winning field-goal range.
Young (19-for-34, 194 passing yards, one touchdown, one interception) said his belief in Legette remains strong and that he is a ‘great player’ with a ‘super-bright future.’
‘I know he knows I always believe in him,’ Canales said. ‘I always know he’s going to make the next one. I’m always going to have faith in that. I see how hard he works, the type of guy he is. Great for us, great in the locker room. It’s tough for us. We all miss things.’
Young said he will reinforce his words by showing him – the quarterback’s not going to stop throwing him the ball.
“I trust him in every situation,’ Young said. ‘That’s not going to change.”
Fellow Panthers wideout Adam Thielen hadn’t talked to the Legette yet when he met the media after the game, but the 11-year veteran wants the 23-year-old to know every receiver has experienced something similar at some point in their careers.
“He’s a hard worker,’ Thielen said. ‘He does things the right way. We’re proud of him. He had a great game. Just keep working, and we’re there for him.’