A bad Panthers season got even worse on Sunday when they fell behind the Panthers 27-0 in the first half of what turned out to be a 40-7 loss that dropped them to 1-6 on the season.
Wide receiver Diontae Johnson played despite being listed as questionable with multiple injuries and had one catch — on a season-low three targets — for 17 yards in the loss. After it was over, Johnson admitted to feeling like everyone isn’t pulling in the same direction.
“Frustrated, but I can’t play every position on the field and make every play,” Johnson said, via Joe Person of TheAthletic.com. “Everybody gotta do their job, when it comes down to it. Yeah, it’s tough, but I just tell myself to keep going regardless.”
Panthers head coach Dave Canales said early this month that he didn’t see the team trading Johnson before the deadline, but the continued losing and Johnson’s lack of a contract beyond this season have kept speculation about a deal alive. Johnson’s postgame comments suggest he might welcome such a move, but it remains to be seen if the Panthers will go that route.
The Commanders didn’t have Jayden Daniels for most of Sunday’s home game against the Panthers, but they didn’t really need him.
Daniels left with injured ribs with the team up 10-0 in the first quarter and the lead only grew from there. Marcus Mariota threw for two touchdowns, Brian Robinson ran for another score and the Commanders cruised to a 40-7 win over Carolina.
Daniels was initially called questionable to return and he was ruled out at halftime. The Commanders were up 27-0 at that point, so it’s hard to read much into what that meant about Daniels’s condition. It seemed to be a good sign that he returned to the sideline in street clothes and the fact that he spent the second half smiling and laughing with teammates would fall into the same category.
Mariota was 18-of-23 for 205 yards and hit tight ends Zach Ertz and Ben Sinnott for his two touchdowns. Robinson ran 12 times for 71 yards and Daniels had 50 rushing yards before he exited the game.
The Panthers put together a nice drive to open the game, but Andy Dalton was picked off on a third down screen pass and Dante Fowler returned the ball 67 yards for the first points of the game. Dalton threw another interception and was 11-of-16 for 93 yards before the Panthers gave Bryce Young a few snaps late in the fourth quarter.
The poor outing may lead to questions about going back to Young, but Panthers head coach Dave Canales said at halftime that he wasn’t considering a change so the Panthers may not be thinking about getting the first overall pick of the 2023 draft back into any meaningful action at this point.
The 1-6 Panthers will be in Denver next Sunday and the 5-2 Commanders will remain at home to face the Bears. They’ll be hoping that’s a matchup of Daniels and the 2024 first overall pick Caleb Williams, but we’ll have to wait to find out the details of Daniels’s injury.
When the Panthers were down 27-0 at halftime of Sunday’s game against the Commanders, their head coach Dave Canales told Evan Washburn of CBS Sports that he wasn’t going to put Bryce Young in at quarterback to start the second half.
Canales changed his mind about playing Young in the fourth quarter. After an Austin Seibert field goal extended the Commanders’ lead to 40-7 with under five minutes to play, the Panthers decided to put Young into the game.
It is the second time that the first overall pick of the 2023 draft has relieved Andy Dalton since being benched two games into the regular season.
Young didn’t manage to move the team much better than Dalton did. His first drive lasted three plays before the Panthers punted the ball away.
Jayden Daniels is back on the sideline with the Commanders for the second half of Sunday’s game against the Panthers, but he’s no longer in his uniform.
Daniels left the game in the first quarter to have X-rays on injured ribs and the team announced at the start of the second half that he has been ruled out for the rest of the game. Daniels gave Evan Washburn of CBS Sports a thumbs up when asked if he’s OK and he was smiling and waving to fans upon returning to the field.
Head coach Dan Quinn will likely share further details on Daniels’s condition after the game, but there’s little reason for the team to bring back Daniels in this game.
The Commanders are up 27-0 and there’s little reason to think the Panthers are capable of mounting a comeback that would keep the Commanders from improving to 5-2 on the season.
The bad news of the first half of Sunday’s game for the Commanders is that quarterback Jayden Daniels left in the first quarter with injured ribs.
The good news is everything else that has happened. Dante Fowler returned an interception 67 yards for a score early in the first quarter and the Commanders are up 27-0 after Marcus Mariota’s touchdown pass to tight end Zach Ertz just before halftime.
Mariota is 5-of-9 for 75 yards and Brian Robinson has run for 53 yards and a touchdown in his return from a knee injury. Emmanuel Forbes had another interception of Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton and the Panthers failed to convert a fourth down to help spur the Commanders to their big lead.
Daniels went for X-rays and was called questionable to return, but it’s hard to imagine he’ll be coming back into a blowout. The bigger question for the Commanders will be about his status for Week Eight and beyond.
