For the second time in their last three outings, the Carolina Panthers suffered by the hand of imbalanced football. This past Sunday saw the visiting Atlanta Falcons run all over Bank of America Stadium en route to a 38-20 victory.
But it’s not the same imbalance that we’re used to seeing.
Dissimilar to 2023, when the anemic offense would regularly let down the solid defense, it’s the awfully generous defense that’s letting down the growing offense. Nonetheless, the bright side is still not bright enough for some.
As the 1-5 Panthers continue to struggle, a new debate has arisen amongst fans—one that stems back to the team’s biggest move of the season thus far. Should there be a switch under center yet again?
Head coach Dave Canales, at the beginning of Week 3, made a brave decision to bench last year’s No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young in favor of 14th-year veteran Andy Dalton. And it’s paid off for the offense, which has appeared more stable under a capable passing game and a productive ground attack.
Since Dalton became the starting quarterback, Carolina has averaged 22.5 points per contest while converting on 40.8 percent (20-for-49) of their third-down attempts. That’s quite difference from the 6.5 points and 0.1 percent (two-for-22) under Young.
The argument to play Young, however, has emanated from what’s going on with the other side of the ball. The largely-injured and undermanned Panthers defense has allowed a league-high 33.8 points a game, and is currently on pace to give up the most points in franchise history.
If the campaign is pretty much lost to this point, shouldn’t the organization try to find out if Young can still be a franchise quarterback? Considering the king’s ransom they gave up for him, shouldn’t Carolina want to get another look at the 23-year-old before making (or not making) another choice at the position?
Well, while it may be premature to give up on a talented second-year player after just 18 starts, we must remind ourselves of what Young looked like in the first two weeks of the season. He showed no pretense of confidence as a passer.
Young was also not seeing the field well and had very little trust in an offensive line that had given him clean looks. When he did have time to throw, Young bailed from his pockets and threw some ghastly interceptions.
From Canales’ perspective—he needed to decide not just for the offense, but for team’s performance as a whole. He needed to establish the trust of the locker room and raise the morale.
There is no doubt that the Panthers offense has been moving more consistently since Dalton took the reins—as he’s had answers against pressure, played on time and in rhythm and displayed the composure that was missing from the spot to begin the season. The skill players trust him, something that is critical between the signal-caller and his playmakers.
This isn’t to say the players don’t trust Young. But it’s difficult to ignore the response from this group of men.
This is a damn good play. Empty set. 1v1 matchup w/ 5 and 24 at the bottom. Dalton does a great job maneuvering, resetting. One thing I appreciate is that he never drops his eyes. Fluid, tough route by D. Johnson vs. AJ Terrell. Great throw by Dalton while getting blasted. pic.twitter.com/zbZeqtTFMj
— Jared Feinberg (@JRodNFLDraft) October 15, 2024
Dalton is who he is as a player. He will miss at times and have some ill-advised tosses that turn into big plays for the opponent.
What’s important here is that he is displaying general steadiness and rhythm in the passing game. The clip above shows an example of a quarterback who keeps his eyes up when working off-structure, with the ability to quickly reset and drive throws downfield.
Here is another example of Dalton displaying ball placement and general accuracy:
Love the layering here from Andy Dalton to Ja’Tavion Sanders. Accurate throw down the seam against a void in the zone drops. #Panthers pic.twitter.com/W7nC4UhuhZ
— Jared Feinberg (@JRodNFLDraft) October 15, 2024
This seam throw was well-layered and accurate into the void against zone coverage. We didn’t see much of this when Young was on the field this year.
Again, the choice for Canales was between allowing Young to continue to digress and drag down the unit or roll with Dalton to ignite any semblance of a functional passing game. Starting Young because “the season is over” is not a good process entering Week 7.
The Panthers have yet to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs—and until they are, it’s more likely than not that Dalton will remain the team’s starter. Flip-flopping between quarterbacks does nothing to help instill the culture Canales is attempting to establish in Carolina.
This isn’t to say that Young shouldn’t start for Carolina down the line. Dalton could have a bad stretch of games that just might force Canales’ hand yet again.
Until that happens, this is Dalton’s team until it isn’t. He has shown he can drive the offense downfield for scores and give the team the best chance to win each week.
The argument for both sides is understandable from the idea of roster construction and development. Canales and the Panthers, however, must continue to roll with what’s working best on offense—and starting Dalton works best on offense, at least for now.
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