Week 7 the Carolina Panthers fell to the Washington Commanders 40-7, bringing their overall record to 1-6. It was a rough outing for Andy Dalton, who started the game by throwing a 67 yard interception for a touchdown on the first drive and finished just 11-16 for 93 yards, with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. It was his worst outing so far this season, but not enough for head coach Dave Canales to consider a quarterback change.
“It just wasn’t good enough and he knows that” Canales said when asked about Dalton’s perfomance Sunday. “That’s something we’ve got to be honest about on our ‘Tell the Truth Monday’ and look at the things we can do better from an execution standpoint.”
Canales did’t hesitate when asked if he’s committed to Dalton next week.
“Yeah, committed to Andy.”
But should he be?
When the Panthers decided to pull the plug on Bryce Young they were clearly struggling offensively – scoring just 13 combined points in their first two losses. The move infused life – albeit brief – into the team. A week three win against the Raiders and a respectable showing against the Bengals in week four had many thinking Carolina was turning the corner.
Then the bottom nearly fell out.
The Panthers scored just 10 points in a 26-point loss to the Bears and had a respectable 20-point showing against the Falcons before Sunday’s embarrassing 7 point outing and 33-point loss to the Commanders.
Carolina has the worst record in the NFC and a clear path to securing a top three pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Not even a full season into his first year as a head coach Dave Canales has arrived at a critical juncture. With the statistically worst defense in the league and Dalton seemingly regressing from his first two outings, is sticking with the 13-year veteran as the signal caller the right decision?
The Carolina Panthers gave up a lot of capital to draft Bryce Young with the number one overall draft pick in 2023. Year one was rough for Young. Lack of offensive weapons, a poor offensive line and a mid-season coaching change meant the jury was still out on the rookie quarterback. Dave Canales was brought in based on his work revitalizing quarterbacks in the past, the offensive line was bolstered and weapons were added in the wide receiver room, but the offense still struggled – leading to Young’s benching after just two weeks. Now that things seem to be off the rails again, is it time to to revisit playing Young?
The answer is yes.
The Carolina Panthers have needs on both sides of the ball, but the most important position on the field is the quarterback and there’s a big question there for the Panthers. Andy Dalton is not the long-tern answer, but Dave Canales and general manager Dan Morgan have to find out if Bryce Young is. The only way to do that is by seeing him play on Sundays.
There are 11 weeks left in the season. That’s an ample sample size for Panthers brass to decide if they’re committed to their number one overall draft pick or not. If Young shows he is future of the franchise, Carolina can go into the offseason with the clear objective of addressing other areas of need – especially on the defensive end. If Bryce isn’t the guy it’s better to know sooner than later.