For many, watching paint dry may have been a more pleasant viewing experience than Sunday's matchup between the Carolina Panthers and the Philadelphia Eagles. But as far as the victors are concerned, the game was beautiful enough.
During his post-game presser following the Panthers' 25-14 triumph, quarterback Bryce Young revealed that head coach Dave Canales told the team that there's "no such thing as an ugly win."
"Do we know there's tons of stuff we have to go back and clean up? Stuff for us to improve on? Stuff for us to look in the mirror tomorrow and get back to work? 100 percent," Young stated. "But a win's a win. In this league, you can't take that for granted. We found a way—that's always the most important thing."
With all due respect to Canales and Young—today's win was the definition of an ugly win.
For starters, the Panthers gave up a franchise-record 149 yards in penalties. Had the Eagles—who were missing quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley—been anywhere close to somewhat healthy, perhaps the result is much different.
But the worst of it may have been the decisions that Canales made himself, including allowing the clock in the first half to bleed out instead of going for points. The same thing happened later in the game on a critical fourth down.
Overall, it felt as if the Panthers were playing not to lose, and not playing to win. And although they got away with it today, this is a formula that isn't worth repeating.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers QB Bryce Young shares beautiful anecdote after Week 6 win over Eagles