Andy Dalton started at quarterback on Sunday and the Carolina Panthers offense didn’t seem to be the worst in football.
Far from it.
In the first game since Bryce Young was replaced, the Panthers defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 36-22 and thus took their first win of the season. And on the road, too.
Dalton threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns and led the Panthers to points on seven of their 12 possessions. The win was the Panthers’ first under new head coach Dave Canales. Dalton’s 300-yard passing performance with three touchdowns was the first of the season in the NFL.
Carolina controlled both sides of the ball against the Raiders, but it was the resurgent offense that stood out after a significant quarterback change. The Panthers benched Young on Monday after 18 career games after selecting him first overall in the 2023 draft.
Dalton, a 14-year NFL veteran who made three Pro Bowls as a starter for the Cincinnati Bengals, was called up to replace him in the starting lineup and looked a lot like his former Pro Bowl self.
The Panthers opened the game with a 70-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass from Dalton to running back Chuba Hubbard. The touchdown was only their second of the season and the first for the Panthers in the first half of the year. There were many more to come.
With the score tied 7-7 in the second quarter, Dalton, under pressure, threw a pass over two Raiders defenders to Diontae Johnson in the end zone, scoring his second touchdown of the day.
Then, as time expired in the final minute of the first half, Dalton threw a 31-yard pass to Adam Thielen in the end zone – again over two Raiders defenders – to extend Carolina’s lead to 21-7.
The Panthers scored two more field goals and a touchdown run by Miles Sanders after halftime before the Raiders responded on offense. By then, Carolina’s lead had grown to 33-15 in the fourth quarter and the game was essentially over.
Carolina’s Offensive Performance: Dalton vs. Young
The final score of 36 was the most for Carolina since the Panthers signed Young last spring. Carolina reached the 30-point mark just once in 18 games with Young at quarterback, in a 33-30 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 16 of last season.
The total of four touchdowns was four times the previous tally of one in Carolina’s first two games this season. The offense, meanwhile, totaled 437 yards and had both a 100-yard rusher and a 100-yard receiver. Hubbard ran for 114 yards on 21 carries and also caught five balls for 55 yards and a touchdown. Johnson had eight catches for 122 yards and his touchdown.
At the end of the game, Dalton had completed 26 of 37 (70.3%) passes for 319 yards (8.6 yards per attempt) with three touchdowns and no turnovers. In Young’s two starts this season, he completed 55.4% of his passes for 245 yards with zero touchdowns and three interceptions.
Young’s long-term future with the Panthers remains uncertain, but for now, Carolina’s offense clearly belongs to Dalton.
