Breaking:It was more than just a fight it is pure phenomenal from the Panthers

Carolina’s receiver talks about his chemistry with QB Bryce Young, the growth of the team’s offense and more after Sunday’s loss to Green Bay. BY MIKE KAYE

The Panthers nearly pulled off a Christmas Eve miracle Sunday against the Green Bay Packers at Bank of America Stadium.

Down by 14 with 11:38 left in the fourth quarter, rookie quarterback Bryce Young led back-to-back touchdown-scoring drives as Carolina tied the game at 30-30 with 4:12 remaining. But after the defense gave up a go-ahead field-goal drive to Jordan Love and the Green Bay offense, Young and Carolina’s passing attack were only given 19 seconds to respond.

Despite a valiant effort by the offense — which saw Young collect a combined 44 passing yards on two tosses to wideouts DJ Chark and Adam Thielen — time simply ran out on a would-be comeback drive. And while the Panthers’ offensive players could have sulked about a narrow defeat after the 33-30 loss, the spirit of the locker room was filled with optimism after a season-best performance by the rookie quarterback and his band of much-maligned offense playmakers and lineman

We’ve come a long way,” left guard Cade Mays said. “Obviously, it sucks not getting the outcome we wanted but we fought until the last second. Some crazy stuff going on in the game, but we’re making big steps

Young, who had struggled to find the end zone for more than a month, tossed two huge touchdowns passes to Chark in the fourth quarter. The reigning No. 1 pick also threw for a season-high 312 passing yards and compiled a career-best 110.0 passer rating, as he avoided turnovers and led five scoring drives on the afternoon.

He has been getting more comfortable,” Chark said. “Stepping up. Making plays. He is the same guy through it all though. But it is just good to see things go his way. Things haven’t been going our way all year, but I am happy to see things go his way. He deserves it more than anybody now.