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Surging Carolina Panthers showing what a difference a year can make

The Panthers dropped six of their first seven games last season on the way to 5-12 finish. A win over the Bills would equal the club’s 2024 victory total.
Russell Baxter|
Oct 19, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales looks on during warmups prior to the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
Oct 19, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales looks on during warmups prior to the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

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Dave Canales’s club is in the midst of a three-game winning streak. The Carolina Panthers own a 4-3 record and boast a winning mark for the first time since 2021. The team features the league’s 19th-ranked total offense, but only the Buffalo Bills (this week’s opponent) and Washington Commanders are averaging more yards per game on the ground.

On the other side of the ball, Canales’s defense is ranked seventh in the NFL in terms of fewest total yards allowed per game. The Panthers are eighth in rushing defense and 10th vs. the pass. Despite its winning resume, Carolina owns a minus-7 scoring differential (145-152) in 2025.

Let’s hop into the DeLorean and go back a year. After seven games in 2024, Canales’s club owned a 1-6 record and was smack in the middle of a four-game skid. Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton had just made his fifth straight start in place of benched Bryce Young.

Bryce Youn
Oct 19, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) exits the field during the third quarter against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After seven weeks of action around the league, the Panthers were 29th in total offense and 30th in total defense—including dead last in the NFL vs. the run. Canales’s team had been outscored a combined 221-74 in their six losses, and 243-110 (minus-133) for the season. After seven weeks, the Panthers were giving up the most points per game in the league (34.7). This season, they are tied for 12th in the NFL (21.7) in that category.

There’s potentially one more significant change from a year ago, which is oddly ironic. Young would return to the starting lineup in Week 8 vs. the Denver Broncos. That's because Dalton was knocked out of action with a thumb injury suffered in a car accident. By all indications, Dalton will make his first start of 2025 this weekend in place of Young (high ankle sprain) against the visiting Bills.

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.