Panthers 36 Raiders 22: Andy Dalton shows us what the Panthers offense should look like

Holy crap, the Panthers won a football game! And not only did they win, they looked good! Dave Canales preached all season about running the football, being efficient on offense, and capitalizing on opportunities. Today we finally got to see his vision.

First quarter

The Panthers opened the game with a refreshing and much-needed scoring drive, with Andy Dalton hitting Adam Thielen twice on short throws, Diontae Johnson with a nice mid-range throw, a point downfield to Tommy Tremble, and finishing the drive with a check-down pass and run to Chuba Hubbard for the Panthers' first opening drive touchdown in a LONG time. Panthers fans all over the internet cheered! The defense followed with a nice three-and-out stop on the Raiders, forcing them to punt. The Panthers took control, and while the drive was still much cleaner than most of their previous attempts over the last two games, they were stopped and forced to punt. Johnny Hekker landed the punt inside the Raiders' own 5-yard line, putting the defense in good position. Unfortunately, the Raiders answered with a 10-play drive straight down the field, capped off with a touchdown run by Alexander Mattison.

Second quarter

The Panthers took the lead near the end of the 1st inning and put together another really good drive. Chuba Hubbard led with his power rushing style and Andy Dalton hit Diontae Johnson for a point inside zone coverage followed by a superb catch and run by Xavier Legette for 35 yards. They capped the drive on 3rd and goal with a beautiful lob to Diontae Johnson for a TD that put the Panthers ahead 14-7. The Raiders took the lead after a short-landing kickoff call gave them great field position, but the defense stood firm on 4th down with a pass breakup by Mike Jackson. The teams traded a series of punts until the Red Rifle hit Diontae Johnson for a beautiful 35-yard catch and run and followed up with a play of the year to Adam Thielen for a touchdown. Dalton made a pass behind the coverage to Thielen in the end zone, who brought the ball down and kept it despite an injury. 21-7 Panthers. The Raiders tried to answer in the final moments of the half, but missed a 57-yard field goal as time expired.

Third quarter

The Panthers continued their upward trend by stopping the Raiders' opening drive of the first half on a 3 and out and forcing a punt. They relied on Chuba Hubbard for most of the 3rd quarter, getting two field goals during that time and generally wearing down the Raiders, keeping the defense fresh and forcing a punt, a long one and a really nice stop on 4th and short when they stopped Gardner Minshew on a QB sneak. The Panthers controlled the quarter, just like Canales has preached all off-season.

Fourth quarter

The Panthers entered the 4th quarter with possession and imposed their will with Chuba Hubbard on the running game and short passing game. After a defensive pass interference, the Panthers scored a touchdown on a short run by Miles Sanders to extend their lead to 33-7. The Raiders quickly answered with a 7-play, 70-yard touchdown drive capped off with a catch by Jakobi Meyers. A long drive with a 2-point catch by Meyers made the game a little more exciting. The familiar fear set in after the Panthers gained zero yards on the ensuing drive and were forced to punt. However, when the Raiders took control, Minshew threw an interception to Mike Jackson. He deserved it. The Panthers kicked another field goal with less than 5 minutes left to cut the game to 36-15. The Raiders brought in Aidan O'Connell for the rest of the game, who created a rushing attack that put the Raiders behind 36-22 with 56 seconds left. A recovery by Ja'Tavion Sanders on an inside kick quickly decided the game.

Final thoughts

The rumored Dave Canales effect on quarterbacks long thought to be done or broken showed up today. It happened to affect 36-year-old veteran Andy Dalton and not 2023 first-round pick Bryce Young. Dalton completed 26 of 37 passes for 319 yards and 3 TDs and led an efficient Panthers offense that also gained 131 rushing yards as a unit, led by Chuba Hubbard's 114 yards at 5.4 yards per carry. The Panthers finally looked like the unit with the philosophies Dave Canales preached when he talked about his vision of what the Panthers can look like. And this unit showed that the Panthers did NOT abandon Bryce Young in the 2024 offseason, as 7 different receivers caught passes from Dalton, led by the man the Panthers traded for as WR1, Diontae Johnson. Johnson shined with 8 catches for 122 yards and a touchdown. The only play where he outshone him was an absolutely beautiful downfield pass from Dalton to Adam Thielen, which unfortunately ended with an injury to the veteran wide receiver.

Bottom line: The Panthers aren't dead yet. And Andy Dalton still has ammo in his gun. Celebrate, Panthers fans. It's been a while since we've celebrated a defeat like this.