Dave Canales has the reputation of being a quarterback whisperer. He arrived in Carolina Panthers having salvaged the careers of Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield, finding ways to unlock their talents where other offensive gurus have failed.
We all assumed Canales came to the Panthers, eager to do the same to Bryce Young, the top pick who struggled last year as a rookie.
Turns out, maybe we were all looking at the wrong quarterback.
Andy Dalton will turn 37 next month. He’s half a decade removed from his last season as the undisputed starter. Since the pandemic, he’s on his fourth team and has started just over six games a season over that span.
In Dalton’s first start under Canales, however, he seemed to find his old Pro Bowl form, last seen in the waning days of the Obama administration.
He threw 37 passes on the day and finished with a 123.6 passer rating. The last time he passed as often with a rating as high was Dec. 22, 2013. Bryce Young, the quarterback he replaced in the Panthers’ starting lineup Sunday, was 12 years old back then.
He had three touchdown passes and no interceptions, something he’s done just four times in the last seven seasons.
Forget comparing Dalton to his past performances. Sunday’s outing was one of the best games a quarterback has had this year. He threw for 319 yards, the fifth- most in the NFL this season. He’s the first 300-yard passer this year to also throw for three touchdowns, and his quarterback rating for the game was the best by more than 20 points.
The Panthers set the tone early, getting ahead of the chains. Dalton’s first three passes on first downs were complete for a total of 41 yards, while Chuba Hubbard’s first three first-down rushes went for 16.
“You’ve got to win first down,” Canales said. “To me, that means getting four or more yards. Then you get into second and medium, and the whole call sheet is at your disposal. That’s what makes you deadly and allows you to attack.”
Dalton did his part, getting in position to attack the Raiders defense.
“I think we were 5-of-7 on third-and-five or less, which is the world we want to live in,” Canales said.
Despite his success, Dalton didn’t try to do too much, content with just filling the role Canales laid out for him going into the game.
“What I expect is do your part,” Canales recalled telling Dalton. “Get the ball to the first open guy. When the shots are there, take ‘em. When they’re not, get the ball out.”
The veteran quarterback not only did that, but Dalton’s rejuvenation brought life to a team that was beyond hope just days earlier. Dr. Frankenstein would have been hard-pressed to find anything to work with, but Canales was able to salvage the Panthers’ season. While Lazarus would likely have shaken his head and walked away, Canales and Dalton sparked joy in the Carolina locker room and fanbase.
“The team had fun,” Dalton said. “I probably had the most fun. That’s the thing. No, I wasn’t going to let anybody else have more fun than I was out there. Playing this game, like I said, we put in the work, and when you get an opportunity to be out there on Sundays and get a chance to compete, yeah, it’s a ton of fun.”
When a football team is having fun, chances are it’s knocking the opponent around the field. The Panthers got strong outings from its offensive line, which protected Dalton and cleared the way for a run game that helped control the tempo. The Carolina defense, which struggled in the first two weeks, also came up big. It was a day that left the quarterback whisperer talking like a line coach.
“At the heart of it all is toughness,” Canales said. “And how do you show toughness as an offense? You run the ball. We finished the game running the ball, and that’s my dream—my vision for Panthers football.… At the end of the game, we were finishing runs. There was some violence. Guys got tired, and it was ugly, and it was beautiful.”
This week, Dalton gets another start, this one against the team where he spent his first nine seasons, the Cincinnati Bengals.
“It’s going to be fun,” Dalton said.
Renaissances usually are.
