The is in the books. The Carolina Panthers (1-2) scored on their first possession and never looked back en route to a 36-22 road win over the Las Vegas Raiders (1-2) on Sunday afternoon. The victory featured a jolt of offensive life ushered in by , who stepped into the starting role Sunday with watching from the sidelines.
How much life, you ask? The Panthers notched 437 total yards on 70 plays, good for about 6.2 yards per play. Dalton accounted for 319 of those yards passing (and three touchdown passes), and running back Chuba Hubbard notched 114 yards on 21 carries, as well as 55 yards and one touchdown receiving.
Canales, the first-year head coach and Carolina play caller, had a lot to say about his team’s big day. Here are the highlights of his news conference. Dave Canales opening statement “Sunday is about the players and putting them in positions to have success.
And they took advantage of that in different ways. And it was just a great picture of Panthers football: Being able to run the ball, stopping the run, playing complementary football on third down, taking advantage of red zone opportunities, the whole thing. The coverage units just flying around with great energy and chasing.
“It was just a carryover from a great week, so I just got to give props to the whole group of just continuing to trust this process. This is a great starting point for us.” Did Andy Dalton’s presence bring a new energy to the team? “It really was just the whole group.
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