Andy Dalton took a knee at the end of the second quarter at Northwest Stadium on Sunday. He might as well have waved a white flag, as the Panthers took a 27-point hole to halftime against the Washington Commanders on the road.

This 40-7 blowout loss — with standout rookie QB Jayden Daniels limited to just one series due to injury — was the latest and most glaring embarrassment of the Dave Canales era. Nothing worked, and for most of the afternoon, it felt like the Panthers’ ability to function in any facet went on vacation.

Yes, the defense was drained by a ton of major injuries. Sure, the offense is still trying to figure itself out — even with a 36-year-old QB under center. And, in a way, Canales is still learning on the job in his first year as head coach.

But Washington, now 5-2 after a stark offseason rebuild, made the Panthers look like they were jogging in quicksand for most of the afternoon in Landover, Md.

It was pathetic — no matter the setting, no matter the other circumstances.

The Panthers came into the game with the worst point differential in the league. The defense was allowing more points than any other unit in the 32-team league. But what might have been the most damning portion of the afternoon was the temporarily competent offense morphing back into a turnover-heavy, mistake-riddled group, which looks just as well off with Bryce Young — who was largely inept in his two starts earlier this season — as it has with Dalton.

Canales has unequivocally backed Dalton over the past five weeks with Young sitting on the sidelines. Sunday’s dismantling has put the Panthers’ coach in a position to have egg on his face with whatever he chooses next.

It’s humbling, it’s harrowing, and it’s what Carolina has been throughout the majority of David Tepper’s ownership tenure. And somehow, this loss might actually be a new low.

Here is how each unit graded out in the biggest embarrassment to date (Spoiler: This won’t be pretty):

Andy Dalton, Panthers’ pass offense vs. Commanders

Dalton’s day got off to an extremely poor start. And that start was a sign of what was to come for the entire Panthers roster.

On the opening drive, he tossed a screen pass — way off the mark — to running back Miles Sanders, and the ball was picked off by Washington pass rusher Dante Fowler. The interception was taken 67 yards to the end zone for a pick-six. The turnover wiped out a largely effective drive for Carolina, as the Panthers were in field-goal range, and Dalton’s pick essentially handed the Commanders points without any effort by the offense.

Dalton followed up the pick-six with a three-and-out for the offense on the group’s second series.

The veteran QB’s afternoon didn’t get much better on the third series, as he threw another interception to cornerback Emmanuel Forbes. The pick was Dalton’s sixth interception in 13 quarters, dating back to the Week 4 home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Following a strong defensive showing on the other end, though, Dalton and the Panthers suffered through another three-and-out, with linebacker Frankie Luvu, formerly of Carolina, picking up a third-down sack for good measure.

Through four series, Dalton completed just 4-of-8 passes for 39 yards and two interceptions — including the pick-six on the opening series.

Despite trailing the entire game, Dalton and the passing game still struggled to pick up yardage through the air. Dalton completed 11-of-16 passes on the afternoon, picking up just 93 yards and two picks. His top passing option was tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders, who caught six passes for 61 yards.

It was an alarming output for a unit fronted by a play-calling head coach. Young played clean-up duty, tossing two passes for a loss of four yards.

Grade: F

Chuba Hubbard, run offense vs. Washington

Hubbard came into the game with 485 rushing yards on the season. That total was the third-highest mark in the league entering Sunday’s slate of games.

But against Washington, Hubbard got off to a slow start. During the first half, he picked up just 25 rushing yards on 12 carries. He also got stonewalled on a fourth-and-1 play in the second quarter.

While Miles Sanders picked up 26 yards on a jet sweep out of 21 personnel on the opening drive, the backfield gained just 55 total rushing yards on 16 carries in the first half.

With a massive hole to climb out of, the Panthers still ran the ball a bit in the second half. Still, the positive gains were few and far between, even as the Commanders played in prevent fronts throughout the majority of the final two quarters.

Hubbard finished with 52 rushing yards and a meaningless touchdown on 17 carries. The offense finished with 95 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 totes.

Grade: D

Jaycee Horn, pass defense vs. Commanders

With Dane Jackson (hamstring) finally back in the lineup, the Panthers had a new-look group in the secondary. Jaycee Horn worked alongside Dane Jackson, Mike Jackson and rookie Chau Smith-Wade, who received a bigger role with Troy Hill’s Saturday release.

Daniels, the rookie quarterback, suffered an opening-drive rib injury after throwing just two passes for 6 yards. Daniels was immediately replaced by veteran QB Marcus Mariota, who was sacked on his second play of the day by pass rusher Charles Harris. The takedown went for a 4-yard loss and ultimately led to a punt by Washington.

After a couple of strong drives, Smith-Wade — starting in the slot — gave up a huge pass-interference penalty in the red zone. The pickup from the penalty ultimately led to a rushing touchdown to extend the lead to 17 in the second quarter. Smith-Wade was also called for a holding penalty on the next series, helping Washington get into field-goal range following a fourth-down stop by the Commanders’ defense. The second field-goal attempt led to a 20-point lead.

Washington only had 81 passing yards in the first half, but the penalties by Smith-Wade in coverage clearly impacted the scoreboard. There was also a neutral zone infraction by pass rusher Marquis Haynes, which gifted Washington a first down on a clear passing play on the final drive. Dane Jackson was then called for a holding penalty on the next play, which was followed up by a 7-yard strike to tight end Zach Ertz.

Mariota completed three consecutive throws for 40 yards after the Dane Jackson penalty, as he finally found some passing rhythm. The backup QB collected 75 passing yards and a touchdown on a 55.6% completion percentage in the first half. The scoring strike came on a 12-yard pass to Ertz in the end zone before halftime.

Mariota’s rhythm continued in the third quarter. The opening series of the half featured five consecutive completions for the backup QB, who ended the drive with a 3-yard touchdown toss to Ben Sinnott, a rookie tight end. Following an extra-point make, the Commanders led 34-0 before the Panthers even touched the ball in the second half.

At one point in the third quarter, Mariota completed 12 consecutive passes and led a pair of impressive scoring drives to add 10 points to an already insurmountable lead.

Mariota completed 18-of-23 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon. He had a 132.8 passer rating. Ertz caught four passes for 40 yards and a touchdown, while wideout Terry McLaurin caught six passes for 98 yards.

Grade: F

Trevin Wallace, run defense vs. Washington

The Panthers were missing a plethora of starters, and even some of their fill-ins, on defense on Sunday.

Derrick Brown (knee), Jordan Fuller (hamstring) and Shaq Thompson (Achilles) have been out for weeks, but the prolonged absences of Josey Jewell (hamstring/groin) and Jadeveon Clowney (shoulder) didn’t help against the Commanders. A’Shawn Robinson (ankle) and Claudin Cherelus (hamstring) were also sidelined.

So, with a bunch of no-name defenders working with the likes of Horn, Trevin Wallace, Shy Tuttle, and Xavier Woods, the Panthers predictably struggled mightily against Daniels, Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler on Sunday.

Daniels, the Commanders’ dual-threat rookie QB, picked up 46 yards on the ground during Washington’s first offensive play. Robinson added another 20 rushing yards on just three carries on the opening series for Washington.

Outside linebacker Thomas Incoom was able to make a nice stop for a loss against Daniels — though, the tackle seemingly injured the QB — toward the end of the first series. But Washington was still able to come away with a chip-shot field goal to give the home team a 10-point lead to begin the game.

Robinson continued to churn up the field with the Commanders receiving consistently good field position. Even with Daniels sidelined, Robinson bulldozed the Panthers’ defense for 53 first-half rushing yards and a touchdown.

Washington picked up 137 rushing yards and a score on 17 total totes in the first half.

With a 27-point lead, Washington — with Mariota under center — simply relied on its run game. Ekeler got involved in the ground game, as he bobbed and weaved out of the lineup with Robinson. The ground game helped set up another score for the Commanders on their opening drive, with Mariota tacking on some more points with a short throw to a rookie tight end.

Robinson and Ekeler continued to run the ball for success in the second half. With the Commanders leading by 37 points in the fourth quarter, it was easy business. Robinson finished with 71 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Ekeler added 17 rushing yards.

The Commanders gained 214 yards and a touchdown on 37 carries on the ground.

Grade: F

Johnny Hekker, special teams vs. Commanders

The special teams unit didn’t have much impact on the game outside of kickoffs for the majority of the first half. Though, safety Lonnie Johnson made a phenomenal play on the ball off a Johnny Hekker punt toward the end of the second quarter. Johnson caught the ball and essentially did a behind the back pass to get the ball downed within the 10-yard line by new linebacker Jacoby Windmon.

Kick returner Raheem Blackshear sustained a shoulder injury on the opening kickoff of the second half for the Panthers. He fumbled the ball while being launched into the air, but tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders was able to recover it to prevent a turnover.

Hekker punted five times for 252 yards. He had two punts downed within the opposing 20-yard line.

Grade: C

Overall grade vs. Washington

Sorry, special teams unit, but this was an abject failure. The third phase was fine, but this was a hideous overall showing for Carolina, and there is no other way to grade this performance but to give it a massive, Commanders red “F.”

Canales needs to have some uncomfortable conversations with himself and his crew after this one. For a head coach who says he has a “developmental staff,” this group has made very few consistent strides through seven games. The team is 1-6, and it’s hard to point out the next win on the calendar, even with the lame New York Giants looming on the schedule in Munich, Germany, in Week 10.

The Commanders came into the game with the NFL’s 19th-ranked run defense and 21st-ranked pass defense. The Panthers’ offense managed just 180 net yards against Washington, with most of that yardage coming with the game clearly out of hand. Dalton’s performance was Young-like, and that’s not a compliment, especially considering he’s been in the NFL for well over a decade.

The defense is bad. It’s not getting any better any time soon due to injuries and a lack of talent. It doesn’t seem like there are any answers outside of Hekker flipping the field like five-to-seven times per game with punts to mitigate other teams’ momentum.

The Panthers are unwatchable. They’re on the verge of being unlikable, too.

Overall grade: F

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