Before Week 3, the Carolina Panthers had just one touchdown this season, but in their first drive without quarterback Bryce Young, they were on the board first against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.
The former No. 1 overall pick was benched after the struggles from his rookie year continued into his sophomore season. Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton got the start and made an impact right away, leading the Panthers to their first lead of the 2024 season.
Dalton and Co. took the ball 70 yards in nine plays in a drive that ended with a 6-yard pass to running back Chuba Hubbard. The Raiders tied things up in the first quarter with an Alexander Mattison 2-yard rushing touchdown, but it didn’t take Dalton much time to respond.
Dalton marched 75 yards down field and found wide receiver Diontae Johnson for a 5-yard TD to take back the lead. Carolina extended their lead to 14 points and Dalton is getting everyone in the offense involved, throwing his third touchdown of the day to the third different player before the half was over.
This time it was Adam Thielen scoring on a 31-yard pass. The Panthers 21 points this half are more than the scores of their first two games … combined.
Through two quarters, Dalton is 15 of 22 for 212 yards and three touchdowns. He has more yards this quarter than Young had in either game this year and is just 34 yards from recording more passing yards than Young had in Week 1 and Week 2 combined. Young went 31 of 56 with 245 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions in the first two weeks, including a pick on his first drive of the season.
At this rate, the job is now Dalton’s to lose.
Before Sunday, the only trip to the end zone for the Panthers this year was a 3-yard rush by Young. Their only other scores through two weeks were two field goals.
Before he was benched, Young went 2-16 in 18 starts with 3,122 yards, 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. In 14 years in the NFL, Dalton has a 83-78-2 record as a starter, with 38,511 yards, 246 touchdowns and 144.
