When Kansas City and Carolina squared off in the NFL on Sunday, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes saw the player he remembered from almost a decade ago in the performance of Panthers QB Bryce Young.

Kansas City defeated Carolina 30-27, but it took a final-play field goal to lift the 10-1 Chiefs past the 3-8 Panthers.

“I thought he played his tail off, man,” Mahomes said of Young. “He throws a really good football.

“You know, it’s funny, I think Texas Tech was the first one to offer him when he was in the eighth grade, and I was at Texas Tech, so I remember watching his highlight tapes then and knew he was going to be a great player. Obviously, he went to Bama and was the first draft pick.

“But I think it’s been cool to see him bounce back these last few weeks and play some great football. I know he has it because I’ve seen it for a long time, and he gave us a scare today, man, because he played his tail off.”

Mahomes threw for 9,705 yards and 77 touchdowns in his final two seasons with the Red Raiders before entering the NFL as the 10th pick in the 2017 draft. Mahomes played in one game as a rookie while watching veteran Alex Smith run the Kansas City offense. Over the next six seasons, Mahomes made the Pro Bowl annually, earned first-team All-Pro recognition twice and played in four Super Bowls, with three victories.

Young threw for 7,200 yards and 79 touchdowns in his final two seasons with the Crimson Tide before entering the NFL as the first pick in the 2023 draft. Young started 16 games as a rookie and the first two games of his second season before being benched. An injury to veteran Andy Dalton has gotten Young back in the Carolina lineup for the past four games. He’ll be there again on Sunday when the Panthers play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coach Dave Canales said after the game against the Chiefs.

RELATED: BRYCE YOUNG: ‘HE’S MAKING A STATEMENT TO ALL OF US’

On Sunday, Young completed 21-of-35 passes for 263 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions as Carolina rallied to tie the game at 27-27 with 1:56 remaining.

That was too much time to leave for Mahomes, who completed a third-and-2 pass for a 7-yard gain, then scrambled 33 yards into field-goal position to set up the game-winning kick.

But after the game, Mahomes said Young looked like the player he remembered, not a quarterback who had been benched.

“I was hoping to be out of there before he got there,” Mahomes said of Texas Tech’s recruitment of Young. “He’s been a great player for a long time and won a lot of football games.”

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

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