On the surface, a look at the standings would tell you this game hardly qualifies for The Post’s Game of the Week.
But the subplot to Sunday’s Panthers game against the Texans in Charlotte is what makes this game the most intriguing matchup of the week with the 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young facing No. 2 overall pick C.J. Stroud.
So what if the Panthers are 0-6 and the Texans 3-3? The matchup of the quarterbacks is the draw here. For better or worse, Young and Stroud will be forever linked and constantly compared. That comparison begins with their first meeting as opposing NFL quarterbacks Sunday.
Stroud has had an extraordinary start through the first six games, throwing nine touchdown passes and only one interception, completing 59.6 percent of his passes for 1,660 yards with a 96.4 rating. Those numbers, projected over a full season, would add up to 4,703 passing yards with 26 touchdowns and just three interceptions.
He leads the league in yards per completion (13.1) and his 191 pass attempts without an interception to begin his career set a new NFL record.
Stroud’s play, along with a rookie head coach in DeMeco Ryans, has been a big reason for the Texans being 3-3 and in the conversation for a playoff berth.
Young’s start has not been as fruitful. He has thrown for 967 yards and six TDs with four INTs. His 8.4 yards per completion is tied for 31st in the league. Stroud’s quarterback rating of 96.4 is 10th-best in the league while Young ranks 29th at 78.7.
So, through six games, the Texans with Stroud look like the clear winners over the Panthers with Young.
Carolina head coach Frank Reich this week defended his team’s drafting of Young, for whom it traded up to the top spot in the draft to land.
“We got the guy that we wanted to get,” Reich told reporters. “We couldn’t be happier about that — in every way. I am happy for C.J. He’s had six good games, and I have no doubt he will have many more good games. But I know this: When it comes to evaluating quarterbacks or any other position, it is [about] years, not weeks. My eyes and our eyes were on Bryce Young from start to finish.’’
The Panthers traded four draft picks, including their 2024 first-rounder, and wide receiver D.J. Moore to the Bears to move up eight spots to get Young. So, if the Panthers, who own the worst record in the league at the moment, remain in that spot by season’s end, the No. 1 overall pick in ’24 would go to the Bears.
So, there’s certainly scrutiny on the choice the Panthers made despite some questions about how Young’s smaller-stature size would hold in the NFL compared to the larger, sturdier Stroud.
“You look at the film, you talk to the man and you get a sense of the leader, the player and what he is and what he can be, and how he fits into the vision we have as an offense and as an organization, we got the guy for us,’’ Reich said. “And I’m sure Houston feels they got the guy for them.”
It does.
“With C.J. … it’s resiliency,” Ryans told reporters this week.
Stroud should have opportunities in this game to further his impressive stats while playing against a banged-up Carolina secondary — with DBs Vonn Bell, Xavier Woods and Jeremy Chinn all possible to miss the game with injuries. Jaycee Horn, the top Carolina cornerback, is iffy with a hamstring injury, having been out since Week 1.
Watch for Texans tight end Dalton Schultz, who has 20 catches for 168 yards and three TDs in the past three games. He could be an issue for the Panthers, who have had trouble covering tight ends this season.
The Panthers defense in the past two games allowed Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa and Detroit’s Jared Goff each to throw for three TDs. So Stroud is undoubtedly licking his chops.
Young’s best friend should be receiver Adam Thielen, who’s on a pace to put up career numbers. He has 47 receptions for 497 yards and four TDs in the past five games. Overall, he’s caught 49 of his 59 targets. He’s coming off a game against Miami in which he had 11 catches for 115 yards and a TD, his third 11-reception game this season.
Similar to the Texans taking advantage of the Panthers secondary, the Panthers and Young have a chance to do the same, with Houston ranked 26th in the league in passing yards yielded, allowing 245.5 per game.
Weirdly, the Texans give up 354 yards a game — ranked 25th in the league — yet they’re ranked No. 8 scoring defense, allowing 18.8 points per game, thanks in part to them being tied for the league lead in takeaways and their plus-6 ratio.