ATLANTA — If the Carolina Panthers can fix the defense this offseason to the same degree they worked on the offense this year, next season is going to look very different.

Because this offense proved on Sunday it can compete, and win.

The Panthers pulled off a stunning 44-38 overtime win against the Falcons, with Miles Sanders — of course — scoring the game winner. They finished 5-12, a year after a 2-15 season.

But after the particulars of the game fade from memory, the larger point remains: the Panthers learned Sunday and over the back half of this year that Bryce Young can play.

The second-year quarterback — who was benched after two games and only got the job back because Andy Dalton was in a car wreck the Tuesday before the Denver game — punctuated his comeback with a brilliant day.

Young finished with three touchdown passes, two touchdown runs, and a season-best 123.5 passer rating, and coolly won a coin toss and kept the Falcons from ever touching the ball in overtime.

But beyond the numbers, he got back to playing the game with the kind of nerve and verve he showed at Alabama, which caused the Panthers to draft him first overall.

Whether it was slithering his way out of a sack situation and running for a touchdown, pump-faking defenders in the open field, jump passes in overtime or turning around to celebrate a Tommy Tremble touchdown before Tremble had even caught the ball, Young was on one Sunday.

More than anything else, that's the most important point of the season. The quarterback they gave up so much for is justifying the expense.

That he was able to do it on a day with star guard Robert Hunt inactive and running back Chuba Hubbard on IR made it that much more impressive.

Sanders came back after a six-week layoff and hauled in a pair of touchdowns, and finished with 116 yards from scrimmage.

— On the other hand, the work needed to be done on defense is significant.

By allowing 38 points and 227 rushing yards and 537 total yards, the Panthers completed a historic season on defense and not the kind of history they wanted.

They now own the league's all-time record for points allowed in a season with 534, eclipsing the 533 posted by the 1981 Colts (who were coached by Panthers Hall of Honor member Mike McCormack). The Colts did it in 16 games.

They're second all-time in yards allowed with 6,877 (trailing just the 2012 Saints with 7,042) and third in rushing yards allowed in a season with 3,057.

They made just enough plays — including Mike Jackson's interception and a Jadeveon Clowney sack as part of a good day for the veteran pass-rusher.

— They walked into the game short-handed, and it only got worse as the day went along.

Defensive end A'Shawn Robinson (calf) and cornerback Akayleb Evans (ribs) left the game in the first half and did not return.

Evans was starting for Jaycee Horn, who wasn't able to go because of a hip injury.

That left bare a defense that was playing deep reserves across the board. They've been adjusting since Derrick Brown suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1, and defensive signal caller Shaq Thompson was lost for the year in Week 4.

They were also out there with their fifth and sixth inside linebackers since Josey Jewell was inactive because of a concussion. They had to call up two outside linebackers from the practice squad to help fill the roster since they put Amaré Barno on IR and DJ Johnson on the non-football injury list this week.

And the guys who were out there were trying; there just weren't enough of them.

More are coming this offseason.

And if they can make the improvements they need to on defense, it sets the stage for a much more interesting 2025.