LAS VEGAS — Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton looked relaxed and comfortable as he paused after warmups Sunday to pose for a photo with his wife and friends on the sidelines of Allegiant Stadium.

It was that attitude that first-year coach Dave Canales was looking for earlier this week when he benched Bryce Young in favor of the 36-year-old veteran, who threw three touchdown passes in the first half of a 36-22 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Canales felt that a team that trailed by 60 points after a 0-2 start needed to mount an attack and that the team was closer to having its own identity than its losses suggested.

“That was one of the things I got to experience, was just be myself and be who I normally am,” Dalton said after completing 26 of 37 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns. “I’m normally pretty calm, I’m normally relaxed.

“Guys were having fun. I was just trying to make sure guys were having fun because you put a lot of work into it … and now you have the time to just go and enjoy the work you put into it.”

The Panthers had not had their fun, losing 47-10 to New Orleans in opening week and 26-3 to the Los Angeles Chargers in the home opener, after a 2-15 season, worst in the NFL.

It was especially difficult offensively for Young, the top pick in the 2023 draft, who posted historically poor numbers.

Benching the quarterback who was being heralded as a Super Bowl winner by team owner David Tepper a year ago with Carolina made for a “really tough week,” according to Canales. It was satisfying to see it all come together in a complete victory for the team, even if he wasn’t exactly cheery during his press conference after his first win as an NFL head coach.

“I’m smiling inside,” Canales said. “I’m completely exhausted. This has been a great week, but again a really tough week with all the factors, just getting back to work and continuing to push to establish our culture and process.”

Canales pushes complementary football and stays away from giving too much credit to one player. He has never specifically credited Dalton for sparking the turnaround after two weeks in which critics called Carolina the worst team in the league.

But it was Dalton who set the tone, leading Carolina to a touchdown on the opening series, ending the NFL’s longest active streak of a team not doing so after 20 games.

His three first-half touchdowns were the most by a Carolina quarterback since Cam Newton scored the same total on Dec. 20, 2015, against the New York Giants during his NFL MVP season.

It was the first time since Week 16 of 2022 that Carolina led by seven or more points in the first half. The Panthers had gone seven straight games without a lead, period — the third-longest streak in the past 20 seasons.

So it was a sad game, and the biggest difference from the first two games was Dalton, who had been known since his college days as the “Red Rifle” because of his bright red hair.

“A veteran presence,” wide receiver Diontae Johnson said of what Dalton brought that was missing. “Just a quarterback in the back to get us in position, score, run plays. We just did a great job of staying locked in. Every play that was called, we made the most of it.”

Johnson, acquired in an offseason trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers to help Young improve, finished with a career-high 122 yards and a touchdown on eight catches. He had just five catches for 34 yards in the first two games with Young.

The running game also flourished under Dalton. Chuba Hubbard had 114 yards on 21 carries and caught five passes for 55 yards and the first touchdown.

It was Carolina’s first game with a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver since Week 8 of 2022 against the Atlanta Falcons.

“Panthers football,” said Canales, who has stressed for weeks that the team is still searching for an identity. “That’s Panthers football, team football. And I get to show (the players) that, and I get to show them how it all complements and plays off each other.”

For Dalton, the game confirmed that he still has what it takes to play winning football at the end of his career. For Young, it justified his benching and reinforced that, like most rookie quarterbacks, he needs time to develop.

As Dalton and the Panthers celebrated, Young stood on the sideline and watched expressionlessly. His first move after the game was to find Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew and give him a hug.

“It’s definitely been a tough week, and tough for a lot of people,” Dalton said. “Bryce and I have had conversations throughout this whole thing. Those conversations are between us.”

The tough week turned into a joyous Sunday, with the team taking a fourth-quarter lead with time left on the clock for the first time in 20 games since Week 18 of 2022.

Dalton had a great laugh and did his best to make Canales laugh afterwards too.

Even wide receiver Adam Thielen, who suffered a hamstring injury on a 31-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter that could cause him to miss games, laughed. Dalton, who next week faces the team that drafted him in 2011 (the Cincinnati Bengals), was a big reason.

“Andy did a great job of just communicating and leading us and getting a fast start,” said Thielen, who plans to have an MRI on Monday. “That was his message to us — we’ve got to get a fast start — and he was able to lead that first drive and get that momentum going.”