It’s been a fascinating past few days for the Carolina Panthers, hasn’t it?
After another blowout loss to start the 2024 season, head coach Dave Canales has made the potentially franchise-altering decision to sit quarterback Bryce Young. In place of the struggling second-year passer will be 14th-year veteran Andy Dalton, who is set to start this Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.
So, what are we in for with the “Red Rifle” back under center?
Let’s take some looks into the All-22 film from Dalton’s lone start in 2023, when he replaced an injured Young for Carolina’s Week 3 trip to see the Seattle Seahawks . . .
Out-of-structure ability and composure under pressure
I’ve highlighted five throws from Dalton’s performance to break down— starting with two impressive off-platform, out-of-structure throws.
The former three-time Pro Bowler is not necessarily known to be a twitchy, quick pocket maneuver like Young. But he can make some throws on the move when he has to.
Take that first play for example. This is a third-and-intermediate situation early in the first quarter.
Seattle is playing Cover 3 with a tilted two-high look to semi-disguise the coverage. Dalton is provided a clean pocket—but, as the story of the 2023 Panthers offense went, no one is open.
This forces Dalton to create out of structure, allowing wide receiver Adam Thielen to scramble free. Dalton makes an impressive side-arm throw moving to his left while getting blasted by a Seahawks defender.
The play results in a first down and a gain of 23 yards.
Fast-forward to late in the second quarter. There is less than a minute left in the half as Seattle plays quarters with the outside cornerbacks and two high safeties playing their respective fourths of the field.
Then-head coach Frank Reich, also the play-caller at the time, dials up all-curls out of doubles with the running back swinging the flat. Dalton pulls the ball down momentarily, when the WILL linebacker closes off the outside curl on the front side.
Dalton scrambles, forcing the nickel to move his hips toward the line of scrimmage and allowing him to get the ball to Thielen once again.
Eye manipulation and poise
This is one of the best throws you’ll see from any quarterback, and an example of Dalton’s experience and trust with his playmakers.
Moving on into the third quarter, Carolina calls Y-dig with vertical routes against Seattle’s Cover 1 hole call where the MIKE linebacker is expected to drop into the hook/high hole. Dalton identifies a potentially favorable matchup with wideout D.J. Chark, one-on-one with current Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson.
Dalton is going to use his eyes to hold the single-high safety. Then, as soon as he hitches, drops a back-shoulder dime in tight coverage to Chark.
In this second-and-long situation, the Seahawks are once again playing in a Cover 3 look as Carolina emerges from empty 11 personnel.
This play is where I appreciate Dalton’s veteran savviness as a quarterback. Watch the curl-flat nickel and linebacker Bobby Wagner; Dalton’s initial hitch and eyes go to Thielen again before taking another hitch in his drop.
That frees tight end Tommy Tremble on the sluggo-seam—a well-placed ball to No. 82 by Dalton.
At this point in the game, the Panthers are down two possessions late in the fourth quarter with little chance to secure the victory. Even still, this is a great play to mention.
Carolina is shown here in the red zone versus Seattle’s go-to Cover 3 defense. Dalton does a great job of manipulating the single-high safety with his eyes to allow just enough room for him to layer this intermediate throw to Thielen for the touchdown.
Again, this is another example of Dalton’s experience helping elevate the offense in some capacity.
What to make of Andy Dalton moving forward
This particular game from Dalton showed me a couple of things. First, the veteran displayed answers against pressure—something that has yet to be shown from Young this season.
Second, Dalton has a good understanding of the offense, playbook and each player’s assignments on certain play calls. This allows him to stay composed in the pocket and climb when necessary.
In all fairness, Dalton didn’t have a spectacular game. While he did complete 34 of 58 pass attempts for 361 yards and two touchdowns, a chunk of those attempts and yards came in the fourth quarter when Carolina was down by a decent margin.
Dalton did miss some throws, including having inconsistent ball placement. This is likely the quarterback Panthers fans will see on Sunday against the Raiders.
However, this is better than what we have seen from a regressed Young—who could still see playing time at some point this season.
What the Panthers and Coach Canales will be getting Sunday is an experienced quarterback who knows how to operate the offense around him and will deliver throws on time. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if Dalton produced much better numbers than what his now-backup had done in the two games prior.
Quick-hitting notes from Week 2
- The offensive line is the best overall group for Carolina thus far. They gave up just two pressures to the Chargers pass rush that featured Pro Bowlers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. Left tackle Ikem Ekwonu had one of his better starts with more consistency in his pass sets and overall technique. The interior offensive line continues to stand out, with Austin Corbett displaying a seamless transition to center.
- With the amount of movement and push created at the line of scrimmage by this offensive line, running back Chuba Hubbard averaged over six yards per attempt. The fourth-year runner is the definition of patience and development. He’s shown notable improvements in his footwork, vision, balance and ball skills since his rookie year. The Panthers must commit to giving him 20 or more touches a game if they want to have any chance of competing for wins this season.
- After fracturing his fibula last season, veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson has come back with his hair on fire. He tallied 14 tackles against the Chargers, putting in a great game versus the run and displaying explosiveness and physicality around the line of scrimmage. Thompson also brought pop and aggression when attacking downhill and wen playing from sideline to sideline. He will be a key piece to Carolina’s defense moving forward.
- Outside linebacker Eku Leota was waived by the Panthers on Tuesday, which came as a surprise to some. Despite a solid first week where he tallied the lone sack for defense. he struggled mightily in all phases this past Sunday. He looked overwhelmed in run fits against tight ends, played out of position far too often and failed to seal the edge at times. There is a chance he will return to the practice squad should he clear waivers.
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protection, 19 sits/moves MOF; 6 w/ 
effort 
