What I see from the Carolina Panthers: Andy Dalton’s timing and accuracy are game-changing

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Much like the “Chicken Curse” that is used to explain South Carolina’s mostly poor football history, the Carolina Panthers seem to be charmed by the captains’ curse this season.

After Shaq Thompson suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the Week 4 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the four players the Panthers selected as preseason team captains were either injured or no longer in the starting lineup.

In Week 3, replacing quarterback Bryce Young in favor of veteran Andy Dalton breathed new life into head coach Dave Canales’ offense. But the defense is faltering after season-ending injuries to two captains, including last year’s only Pro Bowler at defensive lineman Derrick Brown and its most experienced player, Thompson, a 30-year-old linebacker.

Add to that the fact that special teams captain Sam Franklin started the year on injured reserve with a broken leg suffered in training camp, and it’s worth wondering whether Canales should ask his team to draft a few more players to wear the “C” on their jerseys .

The short answer is no: Canales is sticking with players voted on by his teammates as permanent captains. However, the first-year coach began selecting players to represent the team during the coin toss in place of injured players or a currently absent player. 2 QBs.

While Young joined Thompson and Feleipe Franks (special teams selection) in the midfield ahead of the Week 3 win in Las Vegas, last week’s three game captains were Dalton, Thompson and return specialist Raheem Blackshear. Canales also expects others to fill the leadership void left by the losses of Brown, Thompson and Franklin (who is expected to return before the end of the season).

“We’re just relying on guys who have been vocal, who have stood up for the principles of what we’re going to improve in this role,” he said. “In terms of who will be flipping the coin, these are people who exemplify what we are looking for in Panthers football.

“Beyond that, it goes beyond these (captains). These are guys who get the respect of their teammates. But there’s a huge group on the leadership council made up of guys who have been in the league, been here and who really represent what we’re looking for.

Dave Canales and the Panthers will be without captain Shaq Thompson for the rest of the season. (Bob Donnan/Imagn Images)

This is the second year in a row that Thompson has gone down in September with a season-ending injury that will require surgery. Losing Thompson is a blow to the defense – he has been the leading attacker for four games – but also to Canales. As the longest-tenured player at the position and one of two players to leave the 2015 Super Bowl team, Thompson has had a significant impact on the organization, much like Thomas Davis before him.

“I’m just sick of Shaq, a guy who really cares so much and plays with so much passion,” Canales said. “Vocal leader. Someone who will support me throughout the process as I get back on my feet as a first-time head coach.”

There are other vocal leaders to lean on, however, including offensive linemen Austin Corbett and Robert Hunt, receiver Adam Thielen (who is also injured), linebacker Chuba Hubbard and safety Xavier Woods. Others, like Taylor Moton, may lead in a different way: The 30-year-old hasn’t missed a game since being drafted in the second round in 2017, and his streak includes 103 straight starts.

“I hate to hear about Shaq getting hurt, and obviously Derrick, and all the guys. I feel for them. I love them all. These are my brothers,” Moton said. “When you step on that field, the show must go on and that next-man-up mentality comes in.”

For Dalton, the attack was timely

On Tuesday, I asked a veteran staffer from another team about the biggest differences in the Panthers’ offense since Dalton took over. “Timing and accuracy,” he said.

That’s basically what Canales has been saying since Dalton’s three-TD, 319-yard game in Las Vegas, followed by a 25-of-40 passing day against the Bengals that Canales called solid.

If Canales’ praise for Dalton has seemed muted over the past two weeks, it’s likely in part because he’s mindful of Young’s confidence, which has already been shaken. But Canales also sees Dalton’s work in the offense as simple and exactly what a 14-year veteran should do.

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Here’s what Canales said about Dalton two days after the Raiders game:

“Andy just operated and functioned in our system, got us into the right runs, threw to the first open man, advanced when he had to, called it. He did a fantastic job of just playing efficiently, making some explosive plays and finding opportunities on the field when available.

Canales wasn’t able to predict how his offense would perform in the first two weeks because Young was out of the pocket too often and wasn’t progressing through his stride. However, the pattern looks good since the QB change, albeit in a small sample size.

The Panthers are fifth in the league in giving up 406 yards per game over the past two weeks and are sixth in scoring (30 points per game). They finished last in both categories through the first two weeks, averaging 176 ppg and 6.5 rpg.

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The grass war

Thompson broke his fibula in Week 2 last season when defensive end DeShawn Williams unknowingly threw Trevor Penning onto the back of Thompson’s leg. Thompson’s injury Sunday appears to have occurred on a no-contact play in which Thompson lost coverage, then accelerated forward when it appeared Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was going to run.

Some questioned whether Bank of America Stadium’s artificial turf contributed to the injury to Thompson, who has been a frequent and vocal critic of owner David Tepper’s decision to switch from grass to turf in 2021.

But David Chao, a former NFL team doctor who writes about athlete injuries, doesn’t believe the turf played a role in Thompson’s Achilles rupture.

“I generally agree that grass is safer than turf for some injuries. “I don’t see from the video that surface area was a big factor for Thompson in this case,” Chao said in a text message. “A very harmless mechanism, similar to (San Francisco 49ers linebacker) Dre Greenlaw’s Achilles injury during the Super Bowl, which was played on grass.”

Running back Miles Sanders spoke to Thompson after Sunday’s game and said Thompson never mentioned anything about the turf. “But I’m definitely one of those guys who cares about the pitch. I believe that every stadium should be grass,” he added.

Panthers players gave Tepper a “D” grade in NFLPA team reports released in February, negatively impacted by the decision to switch to turf play. Every Panthers player who took the survey said they preferred grass.

Sanders said he was playing on turf fields in Pittsburgh in high school when he first became averse to artificial surfaces.

“Your body hurts, your joints hurt a little more when you play on turf because it’s harder than grass,” he said. “That’s probably the main reason why everyone is leaning more towards grass, because it’s so much easier to play on and it’s hard on the body.”

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Say what?

When Thompson and Josey Jewell (groin and hamstring) missed the Bengals’ game with injuries, rookie Trevin Wallace became the primary defender, responsible for capturing the signal from the sideline (via a transmitter in his helmet) and relaying it to the defense. This process was slowed somewhat by Wallace’s southern Georgian accent.

Well, not just the accent. Woods said there are other factors that make Wallace difficult to understand.

“We gave him hell for this. Because not only does he have an accent – like me, I have a bit of a lisp, I’m from the South and I wore Invisalign,” said Woods, a Louisiana native. “Trevin has an accent, wears Invisalign, was tired and was breathing heavily. So that was difficult.

“But we talked about it, we joked about it. We said, “Trevin, you need to slow down a little bit.” We didn’t miss a call, but it was different.”

Wallace will have time to work on calling calls more clearly: With Jewell expected to miss at least this week, Woods said the third-round pick out of Kentucky will continue to wear a “green dot” on his helmet.

(Top photo of Andy Dalton: Matt Kelley/Getty Images)