CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When Joe Burrow and a desperate Cincinnati Bengals team were putting up touchdowns quicker than department store Christmas displays in late September, you figured the Carolina Panthers were headed toward Blowout City.
Down 31-17 late in the third quarter, another Panthers team — like the one from a few weeks ago — would have folded up, eaten a 30-point loss and tried to beat the traffic out of Bank of America Stadium.
Instead, the Panthers scored on consecutive possessions, handed Burrow his first interception of the season and pulled within a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. And while the Panthers didn’t deliver Burrow a fourth loss to start the season, they at least kept things competitive Sunday before falling 34-24.
And when you’re coming off a 2-15 season and just benched last year’s No. 1 pick two games into this one, that will have to suffice.
“I don’t call it a moral victory. A loss is a loss,” cornerback Jaycee Horn said. “But at the end of the day, you could feel the vibe that we’re getting better as a team. Can’t deny that. We’re gonna find a way to shake back and go out there next week and get a dub.”
Carolina coach Dave Canales speaks with QB Andy Dalton during the game Sunday as Bryce Young looks on. (Bob Donnan / Imagn Images_
The most obvious difference is at quarterback, where Andy Dalton wasn’t as on-point as he was in Vegas but still turned in a “solid day” at the office, as first-year coach Dave Canales called it. Canales isn’t asking Dalton to do too much: Get the Panthers in the right play, try to hit the first read and don’t put the ball in jeopardy.
Whether it’s PTSD from his 62-sack rookie season or something else, those are things Bryce Young wasn’t doing as the Panthers started 0-2 while being outscored 73-13. And when the quarterback isn’t playing well, it has a way of sucking the energy out of an entire organization.
But there was a different feeling Sunday at Bank of America Stadium, where the Panthers went toe to toe with an AFC team with a franchise quarterback and playoff expectations. Also of note: No fans were seen with bags over their heads or heard chanting for the owner to sell the team.
Progress.
“I think something flipped,” right guard Robert Hunt said. “We’re just trying to win some games. Guys are clicking. We never felt out of it today. We were saying the whole time, ‘We’re about to go down and win this game.’ Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way.”
What flipped is the quarterback, though players don’t want to call out Young because they like him and voted him a team captain less than a month ago. Plus, they might need him if something in Dalton’s 36-year-old body stretches or snaps the way it did Sunday for veteran linebackers Shaq Thompson and Josey Jewell.
But Canales has indicated he plans to ride Dalton as long as he’s producing, much like rookie receiver Xavier Legette rode his imaginary horse — inspired by his actual horse named Dolla Bill — back to the sideline Sunday following his first career touchdown.
Legettey Up 🐎@budlight | #easytocelebrate pic.twitter.com/CEtyD7JKrU
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 29, 2024
Legette’s performance against the Bengals personified where the Panthers (1-3) are nearly a quarter into the Canales/Dan Morgan era. The former South Carolina wideout, who the Panthers drafted with the last pick in the first round, caught six passes (matching his total from the first three games) for 66 yards and the TD. But he also had two of the handful of drops by Panthers receivers and tight ends, a couple of which came in key spots (Diontae Johnson in the end zone on the first drive; Feleipe Franks on a fake punt that would have extended a drive).
The roster might not be teeming with Pro Bowlers, but there is talent here. Like Legette, it’s about cleaning up the details.
“I wouldn’t really say it’s a healthy loss because the two drops that I had, that’s the difference between winning and losing,” Legette said. “If I would have made those plays, we would have been able to stay on the field and maybe get a touchdown to win the game.”
GO DEEPER
Bengals top Panthers 34-24 for first win of season: Takeaways
There were other examples of those little things that usually separate the winners and losers on Sundays:
• Shoddy tackling on a pair of Cincinnati touchdown receptions, including a pitiful showing on a Ja’Marr Chase 63-yarder in which Xavier Woods, Charles Harris and Troy Hill all whiffed.
• The offensive line failing to deliver Chuba Hubbard into the end zone on three tries from 2 yards or closer (sandwiched around the aforementioned fade to Johnson on second-and-goal).
• Pass rushers that never sacked Burrow and barely made him sweat, the one exception a Jadeveon Clowney pressure that forced Burrow into a poor throw that Woods intercepted.
• Nick Thurman jumping offsides on third-and-4 after the Panthers had climbed back within a TD.
• All those drops, including a couple of deep balls that ticked off Johnson’s fingertips.
“I’ve just gotta have those, gotta come down with those,” Johnson said. “It comes down to the details. What could I have done better to get more separation or (win) at the catch point?”
The sooner the Panthers hammer out the fine points, the better. Because while there are some upcoming games they could steal, beginning next week in Chicago, the post-Munich portion of the schedule could get ugly, especially if the injury news on Thompson is bad.
In the meantime, the uber-positive Canales will keep preaching process … and progress. That was his message Sunday.
“For me just talking to the team, encouraged that our football continues to improve,” he said. “But we’ve gotta finish and we have to execute. And it all starts with me as the head coach.”
It starts with the head coach and the quarterback. And if nothing else, the Panthers are in better shape than they were two weeks ago.
Dalton was a workmanlike 25-of-40 for 220 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The pick came in the first half when Trey Hendrickson beat Ikem Ekwonu and hit Dalton’s arm as he was releasing. It also looked like Dalton could have stepped up more in the pocket; Canales said he’d have to see the film.
Like many of his teammates, Dalton said the mojo around the team is different, even if it didn’t result in a win Sunday.
“I definitely feel it. I think just what this team has been through the last several years, I mean, we were in this game until the very end,” Dalton said. “I think for us, it’s like, all right, how can we change that? When we get to be in these moments where we have a chance to win — go drive down and win the game.”
(Top photo of Diontae Johnson: Matt Kelley / Getty Images)
