Holy crap, the Panthers won a football game! And not only did they win, they looked good doing it! Dave Canales has been preaching about running the football, being efficient on offense, and capitalizing on opportunities all offseason. Today, we finally got to see his take.

First quarter

The Panthers opened the game with a refreshing and much needed scoring drive as Andy Dalton hit Adam Thielen twice on short throws, Diontae Johnson with a nice mid-range throw, a dot down field to Tommy Tremble and finished 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 across the internet cheered! The defense followed up with a nice three and out stop on the Raiders, forcing a punt. The Panthers took over and while the drive was still much cleaner than most of their previous attempts in 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 a good position. Unfortunately, the Raiders responded with a 10 play drive straight down the field, capped off by a touchdown run by Alexander Mattison.

Second quarter

The Panthers took over just before the end of the 1st and had another very nice drive. Chuba Hubbard led the way with his powerful rushing style, and Andy Dalton hit Diontae Johnson on a spot inside the zone coverage, followed by a great catch and run by Xavier Legette for 35 yards. They finished the drive on 3rd and goal with a beautiful lob to Diontae Johnson for a TD to put the Panthers up 14-7. The Raiders took over on a short touchdown kickoff call that gave them great field position, but the defense held up on 4th down with a pass breakup by Mike Jackson on 4th down. The teams traded a series of punts, until the Red Rifle hit Diontae Johnson for a beautiful 35 yard catch and run, and followed it up with a play of the year throw to Adam Thielen for a touchdown. Dalton hit a pass behind the coverage to Thielen in the end zone, who brought the ball down and retained possession despite getting injured. 21-7 Panthers. The Raiders tried to respond 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 half on a 3rd and out, forcing a run. They leaned on Chuba Hubbard for most of the 3rd quarter, adding two field goals in the span and generally wearing the Raiders down, keeping the defense fresh and forcing a run, a long one with a really nice stop on 4th and short while stopping Gardner Minshew on a QB sneak. The Panthers controlled the quarter as Canales has been preaching all offseason.

Fourth quarter

The Panthers entered the 4th quarter with possession of the ball, continuing to impose their will through Chuba Hubbard in the rushing game and short passing game. After a defensive pass interference call, the Panthers scored on a short yardage rush by Miles Sanders to extend their lead to 33-7. The Raiders quickly responded with a 7 play, 70 yard scoring drive capped off by a catch by Jakobi Meyers, a long with a 2 point catch by Meyers to close the game a bit. Familiar fear began to show after the Panthers gained zero yards on the ensuing drive and were forced to punt, but as the Raiders took over, Minshew gift-wrapped an interception for Mike Jackson. He earned it. The Panthers kicked another field goal with under 5 minutes left to make the game 36-15. The Raiders brought in Aidan O’Connell for the remainder of the game, who sparked a scoring drive that left the Raiders trailing 36-22 with 56 seconds left. An inside kick recovery by Ja’Tavion Sanders quickly put the game to rest.

Final thoughts

Dave Canales’s eye-popping effect on quarterbacks long thought to be washed out or broken was on full display today. It just so happened to be 36-year-old veteran Andy Dalton, and not 2023 first overall pick Bryce Young. Dalton completed 26-of-37 passes for 319 yards and 3 TDs while leading an efficient Panthers offense that also mustered 131 yards rushing as a unit, led by Chuba Hubbard with 114 yards and 5.4 yards per carry. The Panthers finally looked like the unit that holds the philosophies Dave Canales preached when he spoke about his vision for what the Panthers could look like. And this unit showed that the Panthers were NOT abandoning Bryce Young in the 2024 offseason, as 7 different receivers caught passes from Dalton, led by the man the Panthers traded to be WR1, Diontae Johnson. Johnson was the best with 8 catches for 122 yards and a TD. The only play that surpassed him was a beautiful pass to Adam Thielen by Dalton, but unfortunately the veteran WR got injured in the process.

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