CHARLOTTE — If Panthers quarterback Bryce Young has a superpower, it's his ability to keep things looking the same.

But Sunday, Bryce Young was visibly different.

For one, the little hop up onto the stage for his post-game press conference, an extra bounce he doesn't always have as he makes his dutiful trudge to the lectern. And the look on his face when somebody asked how he was feeling, and he grinned and said "blessed" before settling back into Bryce Mode and saying he'd "probably get some food" with family members to celebrate.

However, the difference his teammates saw in his demeanor after the 23-22 win over the Saints was significant. They know what he's been through.

As he stepped into the huddle for what would turn out to be a game-winning touchdown drive — his first as an NFL quarterback — there was a little something extra.

"He said, 'Let's go get this win. Why can't it be us?'" veteran wideout David Moore said. "And let's just go fight to the finish. Let's go do it. That's how he started. When you've got the fire in the quarterback, he's wanting to go out there and score, what you want to do is give that to him and come out with a win, and that's exactly what we did.

"You've just kind of got to know Bryce, man. We kind of know; we know what he has in him. That's one of the things that he has in him is that spark. It just comes out whenever he wants it to, and that last drive, he wanted it to come out, and it came out."

It hadn't come out in a long time.

The only two games the Panthers won last year were on walk-off field goals by Eddy Piñeiro. They never led for a second in the fourth quarter of a single game last year. And the game they won this year was with Andy Dalton starting after Young was benched in Week 3, and that might have been a long-term role if the veteran quarterback hadn't suffered a sprained thumb in a car wreck two weeks ago.

So, for Young to author a game-winning drive was something he and they were ready to see.

"Where else would you rather be?" Young replied when asked what was going through his mind at that point. "That's all you can ask for, you know, have a chance to go take the lead in a drive. That's what we play it for. That's what we work for. Especially as an offense, that's all we can ask for. Everyone had that mentality.

"We all lean on each other, play for each other, and we're able to get it done, but it was just, you know, it was a great, great team effort."

There were a lot of collective pronouns in that answer. But they all knew what it meant for that one guy in particular.

There was a sense he was capable of it; they just had no evidence of it. The last time he did anything like this was at Alabama, when he led the Crimson Tide back to a 20-19 win over Ja'Tavion Sanders and Texas in 2022. Young shrugged when asked when the last time was, laughed and said "it's Google-able," and left it for others.

"I know what type of caliber player Bryce is, what type of man he is, and he's a great leader for us, and it's not like it's nothing new to him," Sanders said. "I know he has the utmost confidence in himself, and he just goes out and plays his game."

"I think it really shows his character, what type of person he is, and what type of man he is. He never stopped putting the work in despite Andy getting the starting job, he never stopped putting the work in and I think that showed this game, you know what I'm saying? And it really started this week, too, the execution, the details, and the game plan and him just having confidence in himself. And I think he went out there and showed what type of player he is."

But if that part was always there, there were things about this one that were very different. For one thing, there were more shots downfield. In his first three starts this year, he averaged 5.1 yards per pass attempt. Sunday, it was 6.6 with six pass plays of 15 yards or more. That's an indicator, but during the game, some of the old bad habits were still close to the surface.

In the fourth quarter, trailing 22-17, he went three-and-out after three short passes failed to bring back the requisite 10 yards for a conversion. There was obvious frustration on the sideline. But on his next chance, with 3:26 left in the game, things were visibly different again.

Incomplete deep to Jalen Coker Incomplete deep to Sanders. Then, a 26-yard connection to Xavier Legette, who had a pass snatched away earlier in the game for an interception. Then came a long pass interference.

Those shots, and they were symbolic shots even if only one of them connected, were the biggest difference in Young on Sunday.

"I think he is willing to take those shots," Legette said. "Now he's not worried about missing it, but he's trying to give us the opportunity to make the play.

"So I feel like he's just building and building, you know, he's going to keep progressing."

The other thing he hadn't done was get in a victory formation, taking knees to end a game, sealing it the way you want to — surrounded by your people.

So, for guard Robert Hunt, seeing it come to fruition didn't seem different at all.

"I'm really happy for Bryce, and I told him that before we went out there to win, that winning drive. Hey, you've been a winner for a long time. So let's win, let's do it," Hunt said. "And he said, yeah, I've got your back, and we had his, and he did; I'm really happy for the kid.

"It's hard to win in this league, man. You know what I mean? Games like that, I'd rather be a Panther today than a Saint. When the game is so close, you can feel it when it don't go your way. That's the league, though. So you've got to bring it, the plays that you need to make, you've got to make. But I am really proud of the guys, man; Bryce kept fighting, dropping dimes all over the field, everything. I'm proud of this team today."

While Panthers head coach Dave Canales didn't ordain Young the starter for next week's trip to Germany to play the Giants, the difference was noticeable to him too. Canales described the game as "solid," and a stat line that includes 171 passing yards and a 77.6 passer rating doesn't deserve showers of praise.

"But he came up big in some critical moments, you know," Canales said. "And gave us an opportunity a couple of times. So, again, just proud of the step that he took, just taking all the things we're asking him to do, getting us to the right place at the right time.

"So a great step."