By STEVE REED, AP Sports Writer and Louis Fernandez, WRAL Sports

It’s been nearly a month since Carolina’s last win. A 40-7 drubbing against the Washington Commanders on Sunday stretches the losing streak to four games. Quarterback Andy Dalton threw two interceptions in the first quarter, one of which was returned 67 yards for a touchdown. The first quarter quarterback moment folks were talking about though was a rib injury to rookie sensation Jayden Daniels. The former Heisman winner didn’t return to the game, but it didn’t matter. A combination of running back Brian Robinson Jr and backup quarterback Marcus Mariota took care of business for Washington.

The Commanders scored at least 10 points in the first, second and third quarter. The Panthers have allowed at least 30 points in each of its four losses during this streak. The offense totaled only 180 yards and didn’t score until 11:38 left in the fourth quarter, a Chuba Hubbard 4-yard touchdown run.

The Panthers will travel across the country to play the Denver Broncos next Sunday at 4:25 p.m.

Live Updates

3Q / 8:53 remaining, Commanders lead 34-0

Washington continues to move the ball and chew up clock. the Commanders first drive of the second half goes 10 plays and takes up 6:07. Washington caps it with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to to Ben Sinnott. Mariota has 119 yards passing and two touchdowns coming in for the injured Jayden Daniels.

2Q / :10 remaining, Commanders lead 27-0

Washington just keeps making plays. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota leads the commanders on an 8-play, 92-yard drive, finding Zach Ertz in the end zone on a 12-yard pass to Zach Ertz.

2Q / 5:39 remaining, Commanders lead 20-0

After the Panthers turned the ball over on downs, the Commanders aren’t able to do much with the ball, moving just seven yards. Austin Seibert hits a 49-yard field goal to extend the Washington lead.

2Q / 11:35 remaining, Commanders lead 17-0

An underthrown ball by Marcus Mariota leads to a defensive pass interference call on Chau Smith-Wade, but Brian Robinson was the star of this drive. He picked up 30 yards on four carries, including the touchdown.

End of the 1st quarter, Commanders lead 10-0

Andy Dalton is struggling to start this road contest against the commanders. He throws his second interception of the game. Fortunately, the Panthers defense makes the stop. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota is in for Washington. The Commanders say Jayden Daniels is questionable to return with a rib injury.

1Q / 3:18 remaining, Commanders lead 10-0

After a three-and-out, Washington goes marching down the field, 11 plays and 85 yards, but settled for a field goal. Something to watch – Washington rookie phenom, Jayden Daniels, went back to the locker room, having some kind of discomfort in his midsection.

1Q / 11:14 remaining, Commanders lead 7-0

What started as a promising first drive for the Carolina Panthers ends in disaster. The Panthers went 61 yards, moving from its own 14-ard line, but on a 3rd and 9, Dante Fowler intercepts an Andy Dalton screen pass and takes it 67 yards for the defensive score.

Preview

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have lost three straight since Andy Dalton delivered a feel-good win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

That victory came just days after first-year head coach Dave Canales made a bold decision to bench Bryce Young. But Canales said he has no plans to go back to last year’s No. 1 overall pick, saying Dalton will start next Sunday at Washington despite a costly fourth-quarter interception in a 38-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

“Andy will be playing against the Commanders,” Canales said without elaboration.

Young has only seen the field in mop-up duty since being benched after two highly unimpressive starts to begin the season, which dropped his record as an NFL starter to 2-16.

Dalton finished finished 26 of 38 for 221 yards with two first-half touchdown passes and two second-half interceptions against the Falcons to fall to 1-3 as Carolina’s starter. The Panthers haven’t won since veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen went down with a hamstring injury and they played without two starting offensive linemen Sunday.

Before his first interception early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers were moving the ball well on the ground with Chuba Hubbard picking up 9, 12, 5 and 8 yards on four consecutive runs and three first downs.

Canales, the team’s offensive play caller, thought it was good time to throw in a pass, figuring the Falcons would be focused on stopping Hubbard from gashing them on the ground again.

But Dalton’s rollout and toss deep along the right sideline to tight end Ian Thomas into triple coverage was picked off by A.J. Terrell, killing any momentum and silencing the home crowd.

The Falcons then took to punishing the Panthers on the ground, driving 84 yards for a clinching touchdown behind Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, who combined for 200 yards rushing on 33 carries and three touchdowns.

Dalton said in hindsight he should have let the ball go earlier, or even checked it down.
It may not have helped that he hasn’t had a lot of time to work in practice with Thomas, who had his first playing time since coming off injured reserve.

“That was a big drive for us, especially with the momentum that we had at that point,” Dalton said. “That one hurt and set us back and it’s on me. I’ve got to make better decisions in that moment.”

It’s difficult to put the blame on the 36-year-old Dalton, who has at least found ways to get the Panthers in the end zone since taking over in Week 3. The Panthers averaged 6.5 points in two games under Young; and 22.5 in four under Dalton.

And it seems the Panthers are under pressure to score on every drive given the status of their leaky defense.

The Panthers are in the midst of a historically bad season on that side of the ball. Carolina has allowed an average of 33.8 points per game, which ranks as ninth most in the Super Bowl era.

The always upbeat Canales is still searching for positives, urging his team — which hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2017 — to simply get better each week.

“You know, the message to the team is just consistency,” Canales said. “Can we just play consistent football still working through all of the issues that we need to work through? But can we keep taking steps to where we come out of a game and feel like there was balance to what we were doing? We had a better day on third down, which allowed us to get into our run game and hit some passes downfield.

“But it’s about the finish.”

Source: wralsportsfan.com