The Dallas Cowboys smothered rookie quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers in a 33-10 NFL victory on Sunday.

The No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft had his smallest passing output with 123 yards and got sacked a season-high seven times.

“Really good defense. Really good defensive front,” Young said. “Obviously, it’s tough. But that’s no excuse. There’s things I definitely can do better, things that as an offense. Again, that’s a really good defense, but we’re striving, pushing to be – we want to be a great offense. We have a ways to go, we have to keep building, we have to earn that right. But it’s the NFL. We’re competitors. There’s no excuse. First and foremost, I have to be better regardless of what’s going on around me.”

The former Alabama All-American completed 16-of-29 passes with one touchdown and one interception. He lost a fumble on a sack.

But when Young threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tommy Tremble with 1:59 left in the third quarter, the Panthers had pulled within seven points of the lead after converting three fourth-down snaps (one on a Dallas penalty) on a 17-play, 70-yard drive.

“I did think for three quarters we hung in there,” Carolina coach Frank Reich said. “In the third quarter, we went down there and had that long drive and scored and got it to a one-score game and felt like, in spite of the fact that we had a few mistakes along the road, the game was well within grasp there when we got it to 17-10. But we weren’t able to hang in from there.”

The Cowboys scored 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including a touchdown on cornerback DaRon Bland’s 30-yard interception return. Bland tied the NFL single-season record with his fourth pick-six of the 2023 season.

Carolina ran for 84 yards on 15 carries in the first half, when Young went 5-of-10 for 48 yards while under siege.

The Panthers had four full first-half possessions. Young was sacked on third down at the Dallas 37-yard line, Carolina 48 and Dallas 17 to derail three of them.

“We had problems protecting,” Reich said. “We had problems protecting in the first half. Really, the whole game. They’re very talented pass-rushers. We knew that going in. …

“We knew they were loaded up front. We knew it was going to be a challenge. We thought the formula was run the football – run the football, sustain drives, shortened the game like that, be able to throw some play-action, take a few shots here and there. But we just weren’t able to when we stalled running it on a few key third downs, and then in the red zone, we weren’t able to make the plays in the pass game that we needed.”

At 1-9, Carolina has the NFL’s worst record.

“It’s harder when you’re not seeing the results you want to see,” Young said. “It’s always more fun to coach off of a win. It’s easier if you’re successful to take the little things and grow. But that’s not our circumstance. We have to earn that right. At the same time, you build that hunger. You’re able to look at it from another perspective of feeling like your back’s against the wall. We have that mentality throughout the week, and that’s not a bad thing. We have to have urgency. We have to build. And, of course, it’s not ideal, but ultimately it’s where we’re at.

“Again the competitor in all of us comes out. We don’t flinch. We have to take it for what it is – whether it’s good, it’s bad. One way or another we try to have a growth mindset through everything. Of course, it’s always more fun to do it after a win. It’s not our circumstance, but that’s part of the business. It’s no excuse for us. We have to keep growing, keep building.”

Young will be at quarterback when the Panthers play the Tennessee Titans at noon CST Sunday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.

“I obviously watch him closely,” Reich said, “and I’m very encouraged and optimistic about a lot of things and who he is and the player he is. He can make every throw, how he processes it, how he’s handling a difficult season so far. I really respect the way he’s handling himself and fighting through it, so physically I see him every day working hard, getting better, understanding what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, being engaged in the process more and more. He’s great to work with. I love sitting in those meetings with him, we as a group, trying to figure out ways to get better, make this offense better.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.