The Carolina Panthers made a bold move by benching their franchise quarterback Bryce Young in Week 3 in favor of veteran Andy Dalton, and it paid off big time.
In Dalton’s season debut, he led the team on a nine-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to running back Chuba Hubbard, giving the Panthers their first lead of the season at 7-0. By halftime, Carolina was up 21-7, scoring more points in the first half than they did in the first two weeks combined.
The Panthers went on to defeat the Las Vegas Raiders 36-22, marking their first win since December 17, 2023. It was also their first win while scoring more than 20 points since December 24, 2022, when they beat the Detroit Lions 37-23.
Dalton had a standout performance, throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns on 26-of-37 passing, earning a 123.6 passer rating. He became the first quarterback of the season to reach 300 yards passing and three touchdowns in a single game.
To put Dalton’s performance in context, there were only 14 games in the entire 2018 NFL season where a quarterback threw for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns.
In comparison, in Week 1 of this season, only Tua Tagovailoa and Matthew Stafford surpassed 300 yards passing, each with just one touchdown pass. In Week 2, Geno Smith, Brock Purdy, and Jared Goff all exceeded 300 yards passing but only threw a total of two touchdowns.
Dalton’s stellar performance has certainly raised eyebrows across the league and given the Panthers a much-needed boost after a slow start to the season. It will be interesting to see how the team moves forward with their quarterback situation in the coming weeks.
