Dalton and the Panthers got off to a hot start Sunday, scoring their first TD in 28 games on their first possession. Dalton said after the win that he wasn’t aware of Carolina’s cold streak on opening drives, which in hindsight is probably for the best.

On the day, Carolina enjoyed a balanced offense with Dalton passing for 319 yards and the ground game, led by Chuba Hubbard, racking up 131 yards. The Panthers scored on seven of 11 competitive possessions after scoring just 13 points in their first two games with Young under center.

Dalton replaced Young as Carolina’s starting QB on Monday after Canales made the difficult decision to hold on to the 2023 top pick.

Young’s benching likely won’t be permanent, as NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that the former first-round QB is expected to eventually return to quarterback play this season. The 23-year-old Young is essentially serving a “timeout” while the veteran Dalton shows him the ropes.

“It’s definitely been a tough week and tough for a lot of people,” Dalton explained Sunday. “So, Bryce and I have had conversations throughout this whole thing. Those conversations are between us.”

Canales enjoyed the quick fruits of his decision to bench the young Young in place of the experienced Dalton.

“Honestly, that’s exactly what I expected him to do,” Canales said Sunday. “We’ve practiced things. The receivers were in the right spots for him and he took advantage of them when they gave us good coverage to hit those plays.”

Dalton is now happy with the win, his first as a starter since Week 17 of the 2022 season. Next up is his former team, the Bengals, an organization he’ll play against for just the fourth time since leaving Cincinnati after the 2019 season. But it will be his first with Carolina, where Dalton, after a year on the bench, is “having a lot of fun” in his 14th year in the league.

“For us, it was a big win, the first of the year,” Dalton said of Sunday’s victory, his 84th as a starter. “Now it’s like, OK, let’s go. We know the possibilities that are out there. We’ve got to play at that level.”