There wasn’t much suspense about who will be starting at quarterback for the Panthers in Week Four, but head coach Dave Canales made an announcement at his Monday press conference anyway.
Andy Dalton was 26-of-37 for 319 yards and three touchdowns in Carolina’s 36-22 win over the Raiders in Las Vegas. That was a huge leap up from what the Panthers did on offense with Bryce Young running the offense in back-to-back losses to open the season, so Canales isn’t going to be making any changes.
“Andy’s our quarterback. He gives us the best chance to win,” Canales said. “That’s the approach as we get ready for the Bengals.”
Dalton spent his first nine seasons with the Bengals and it looked like his time as a full-time starter might have ended when that term did, but injuries opened the door to extended runs in Dallas and New Orleans before he joined the Panthers. As long as Dalton stays healthy, it looks like he’ll be back in the saddle for a while.
Smiles have been in short supply around the Panthers the last couple of years, but there were plenty of them in Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon.
Andy Dalton threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns in his first start since the benching of quarterback Bryce Young and the Panthers rolled to a 36-22 win over the Raiders. The team picked up more yards than they did in their first two games combined and Dalton’s veteran presence under center had the impact that the Panthers were hoping to see in the wake of the quarterback change.
Dalton called it “a heavy week” because of that change, but Sunday’s win lifted the weight off of a lot of shoulders.
“I mean, it shows what we can do,” Dalton said, via the team’s website. “And I think that’s for us, it’s like, all right, we showed what our standard is now, we know what we can do and the goal is to be able to prove that each week. And for us, this was a big win, first one of the year and now it’s like, OK, let’s go. We know the possibilities out there. We’ve got to go play to that standard.”
Dalton will welcome his first NFL team to town next weekend and the key to beating the Bengals will be to build on Sunday’s success while holding onto the calm, confident approach that the team brought into the game. The quarterback should be a plus to that effort, which is a welcome change to the landscape in Carolina.
The Panthers had looked listless throughout their first two games, scoring just 13 total points in blowout losses to the Saints and Chargers.
But after benching 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young for Andy Dalton, Carolina was the one coming away with a blowout victory.
Dave Canales got the first win of his head coaching career, as the Panthers defeated the Raiders in Las Vegas, 36-22.
Dalton was excellent, finishing the contest 26-of-37 for 319 yards with three touchdowns — good for a 123.6 passer rating.
After ending the first two weeks with 193 and 159 total yards, respectively, Carolina finished Sunday with 437. The club had 24 first downs, finishing 5-of-12 on third down.
All three of Dalton’s touchdown passes came in the first half, as he capped the opening possession with a 6-yard touchdown to running back Chuba Hubbard. Then he hit receiver Diontae Johnson for a 5-yard score in the second quarter. And Dalton capped a two-minute drill with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen, putting Carolina up 21-7 at halftime.
The Panthers extended their lead with a pair of field goals by Eddy Piñeiro and a 1-yard touchdown run by Miles Sanders, going up 33-7 with 13:33 left in the contest.
While the Raiders scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Gardner Minshew to Jakobi Meyers, Minshew tossed an interception to cornerback Mike Jackson on a play that looked like a miscommunication with Davante Adams.
After that, the Raiders inserted Aidan O’Connell at quarterback to finish the game. He tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to receiver Tre Tucker and Las Vegas went for an onside kick. But they did not recover it.
Minshew finished 18-of-28 for 214 yards with a touchdown and an interception. O’Connell was 9-of-12 for 82 yards with a touchdown.
With Johnson’s 122 yards on eight catches, he became the first Panthers receiver with at least 100 yards in 13 games. Hubbard also finished with 114 yards on 21 carries.
Thielen injured his hamstring on his 31-yard catch and had to miss the rest of the game.
Raiders safety Marcus Epps went down late in the third quarter and missed the rest of the game with a knee injury.
Now at 1-2, the Panthers will come home to take on the Bengals in Week 4.
The 1-2 Raiders will stay home to host the Browns next Sunday.
With the game out of reach, Aidan O’Connell is getting some work at the end of Panthers-Raiders.
Las Vegas has inserted the second-year quarterback into the game late in the fourth quarter. Starter Gardner Minshew was largely ineffective throughout the contest, finishing 18-of-28 for 214 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
The pick was Minshew’s last pass in the fourth quarter.
Minshew beat out O’Connell for the starting quarterback role in training camp after O’Connell started 10 games for Las Vegas last season. O’Connell was a fourth-round pick in 2023.
Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton has been slinging it against the Raiders but he will be down one of his key weapons for the rest of the game.
Receiver Adam Thielen is out with a hamstring injury, Carolina announced.
Thielen suffered the injury late in the first half on his 31-yard touchdown catch. After securing the ball in the end zone, he immediately grabbed the back of his leg.
Thielen finished the first half with three catches for 40 yards.
The Panthers extended their lead to 24-7 early in the second half with Eddy Piñeiro’s 43-yard field goal.
