LAS VEGAS — In his first start of the season, Andy Dalton threw three touchdowns as the Carolina Panthers earned their first win of 2024 with a defeat of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Carolina (1-2) won 36-22 and controlled most of the game. After leading for only 10 seconds in the preceding 10 games, the Panthers led all but 10 minutes of Sunday's game. Las Vegas (1-2) tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter before the Panthers scored 26 unanswered points.
Dalton threw for 319 yards while completing 26 of 37 passes. Chubba Hubbard led the Panthers with 114 yards rushing.
Head coach Dave Canales opted to bench last year's No. 1 draft pick Bryce Young in favor of Dalton ahead of this game. Dalton has now thrown for over 300 yards in both of his starts with the Panthers. Young has yet to have a 300-yard game.
The Panthers did something they had not accomplished in 280 days -- they held the lead! The Panthers scored on their opening drive with a Dalton touchdown pass to Chuba Hubbard. It was the first opening-drive touchdown scored by the Panthers since Week 16 of 2022.
Las Vegas tied the game in the closing minute of the first quarter with an Alexander Mattison rushing score. Mattison's 2-yard plunge closed a 97-yard scoring drive for the Raiders. It was the longest drive surrendered by the Panthers since Week 10 of 2022.
Carolina responded with another scoring drive courtesy of a Dalton pass to Dionte Johnson. The Panthers were set in scoring position with a 35-yard pass from Dalton to rookie receiver Xavier Legette.
The Panthers added to their lead in the second quarter with another Dalton touchdown pass. Dalton found Adam Thielen for a 31-yard score.
Eddy Piñeiro added a pair of field goals in the third quarter to put the Panthers up 27-7. Miles Sanders scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter, his first touchdown since Dalton's last start in Week 3 of 2023.
The Panthers held on to score their first win of the season.
"It was a great picture of Panthers football," Canales said after the win. "I'm really excited to get back to work and have another great week."
Canales expressed enthusiasm about Dalton's high-level performance on Sunday.
"It's just what I expected out of him," Canales said of Dalton. "The receivers were in the right spot for him and he took advantage."
Dalton was all smiles at his news conference following the game, saying the team was "having a ton of fun" during the win.
"When you get an opportunity to be out there on Sundays it's a ton of fun," Dalton said. "I think the energy in the locker room before the game was right."
Dalton said Sunday's game proves what the Panthers can accomplish.
"For us to come out and do what we did, it shows the potential for what we can be," Dalton said. "We just have to stay the course and good things are going to happen."
The 14-point win is the largest for the Panthers since Week 16 of 2022.
The Panthers will look to start a winning streak against the Cincinnati Bengals at home on Sunday, Oct. 6.
This story will be updated.