2024-09-23 12:20:02
There was a sense of equilibrium restored with the win because having a passing game that worked set up the other stuff and allowed them to show the progress that head coach Dave Canales talked about seeing in other areas.
They gained 437 total yards, after gaining 359 combined in the first two games of the season (193 in New Orleans, 159 last week at home against the Chargers).
Chuba Hubbard ran for 114 yards on 21 carries, and caught one of the first-half touchdown passes from Dalton (finishing with 169 yards from scrimmage). He also passed Stephen Davis for seventh on the franchise’s all-time rushing list during the game.
Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen had the other two receiving touchdowns in the first half, as the Panthers added the downfield element to the passing game. They had five passes of 20 yards or more in the first half alone (they had none in the first two games).
Johnson finished with eight catches for 122 yards and the score, the kind of lead-receiver production they were hoping for when they acquired the former Steelers wideout in a March trade.
It was one game, to be sure. But it was one they very much needed.
