Andy Dalton started at quarterback Sunday, and the Carolina Panthers’ offense didn’t look like the worst in football.
Far from it.
In the first game since the benching of Bryce Young, the Panthers unloaded on the Las Vegas Raiders in a 36-22 victory for their first win of the season. They did it on the road.
Dalton threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns and led the Panthers to scores on seven of their 12 possessions. The win was the first for the Panthers under rookie head coach Dave Canales. Dalton’s 300-yard, three-touchdown effort 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 momentous quarterback change. The Panthers benched Young on Monday 18 games into his career after they traded up to select him first overall in the 2023 draft.
Dalton, a 14th-year NFL veteran who made three Pro Bowls as the starter for the Cincinnati Bengals, got the call to replace him in the starting lineup. He looked very much like his former Pro Bowl self.
Carolina opened the game with a 70-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass from Dalton to running back Chuba Hubbard. The touchdown was just their second of the season and the first for this year’s Panthers in the first half. There were plenty more to come.
With the game tied at 7-7 in the second quarter, Dalton floated a pass under pressure over a pair of Raiders defenders to Diontae Johnson in the end zone for his second touchdown of the day.
Then, with time ticking off the final minute of the first half, Dalton delivered a 31-yard strike to Adam Thielen in the end zone — again over two Raiders defenders — to extend Carolina’s lead to 21-7.
The Panthers added two field goals and a touchdown run by Miles Sanders after halftime before the Raiders responded on offense. By then, Carolina’s lead had ballooned to 33-15 in the fourth quarter, and the game was essentially over.
The final point total of 36 was the highest for Carolina since the Panthers drafted Young last spring. Carolina reached the 30-point mark just once in 18 games with Young at quarterback, a 33-30 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 16 last season.
The touchdown total of four quadrupled the previous total of one in Carolina’s first two games of this season. The offense, meanwhile produced 437 total yards and both a 100-yard rusher and a 100-yard receiver. Hubbard ran for 114 yards on 21 carries and added five catches for 55 yards and a score. Johnson tallied eight catches for 122 yards and his touchdown.
When the game was done, 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.
The long-term future of Young with the Panthers remains in question. But for now, Carolina’s offense clearly belongs to Dalton.
