by: Barkley Truax 22 hours ago BarkleyTruax
Bryce Young was flagged for intentional grounding during the final minute of the first half against the San Francisco 49ers. The play stirred up some back-and-forth between Monday Night Football broadcasters Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, and ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk.
On third down, Young threw to rookie WR Tetairoa McMillan outside of the numbers, but McMillan cut inside instead. Young appeared to be in his throwing motion with the ball before McMillan made his cut, but the officials called intentional grounding on the play instead, costing the Panthers the down and several yards to boot.
Bryce Young flagged for intentional grounding pic.twitter.com/fEvo9zO7oZ
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) November 25, 2025
“I mean they call intentional grounding here. But from where, I’m standing he and the receiver were just not on the same page,” Joe Buck said.
Troy Aikman gave another perspective, but agreed with his colleague. “But there is the element of whether he was trying to avoid the sack; which I agree with you Joe, it was pretty … obvious it was just them not being on the same page.”
A replay was shown after the fact, showing that the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage. The duo also brought in replay analyst Russell Yurk to explain his perspective on the controversial call.