South Charlotte Today

Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton has been named one of the FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Week for Week 3, the NFL announced on Wednesday. The award nominates six players for passing, receiving, or ground performances each week following standout games. It is a fan-based vote with two winners.

Dalton's recognition follows a 36-22 win against the Las Vegas Raiders, in which he went 26-37 for 319 yards and three passing touchdowns with no interceptions. He became the first—and still only—quarterback this season to post 300-plus passing yards and three passing touchdowns in a single game.

"I got a chance to just be me and play and to be out there how I normally am," Dalton said after the game. "I'm normally pretty calm; I'm normally relaxed. You know, guys were having fun. I was trying to make sure the guys were having fun because you put in a ton of work for this thing, and for you to get out there, it's like now you get time to just go and enjoy the work that you put in.

"And it makes it nice when the day goes like it did today. And they're not all going to go like this, but when they do, you've got to enjoy that."