Blaming David Tepper, Scott Fitterer and Frank Reich for their well-documented trade in March of 2023 is easy. But don’t forget to give them credit for the $10 million insurance policy they took out two days later when they signed unrestricted free agent Andy Dalton.
Fitterer and Reich are long gone, but that policy cashed out in a big way – at least on Sunday — in Las Vegas of all places. Dalton led the Panthers to their biggest win in at least two years, a 34-22 rout of the Raiders, passing for 319 yards and three touchdowns.
And as Joe Person of The Athletic noted, Carolina had its first fourth-quarter lead with time on the clock since Jan. 1, 2023, a span of 20 games. But it came at a cost.
“I’m smiling inside,” head coach Dave Canales told Person after Sunday’s win, lacking his trademark expression. “I’m absolutely beat. This has been an amazing week, but just a really heavy week with all the factors.”
Just two games into his first NFL head-coaching tenure, Canales made the difficult decision to bench Bryce Young. But Canales also risked further eating away at Young’s confidence and losing the veterans in his locker room.
Three of those veterans, Chuba Hubbard, Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen, each caught first-half touchdown passes from Dalton on Sunday. Johnson, acquired this offseason in a trade with Pittsburgh, had a career-best 122 receiving yards. Afterward, Johnson said Dalton was the catalyst.
“You need a guy like that,” Johnson said. “That makes the offense play harder. Not saying we weren’t doing that with Bryce. But it’s different when you’ve got a vet because you know what to expect from him. You know what you’re getting.”
The Panthers are getting the Bengals next week, a collision between Dalton and the franchise that drafted him in 2011. Carolina suddenly has momentum, a positive jolt in its fan base, and an opportunity to capture a share of first place in the NFC South after Tampa Bay and New Orleans both lost in Week 3.