Bengals get first win of season 34-24 over Panthers as offense comes alive: Key takeways

By Paul Dehner Jr., Joe Person and RJ Kraft

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Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase guided the Cincinnati Bengals to their first win of the 2024 NFL season with a 34-24 win on the road over the Carolina Panthers.

Sunday’s game shaped up as a must-win for the Bengals following three straight losses out of the gate to the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders by a combined 12 points and a Week 5 date at home with the Baltimore Ravens looming.

For the Panthers, former long-time Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton made his second start following the benching of Bryce Young. Dalton had another strong game under center, but it was not enough to bring the Panthers back to .500. Instead, Carolina will enter its Week 5 road matchup with the Chicago Bears at 1-3.

Bengals may be flawed, but have a ferocious offense

Similar issues that dogged them through an 0-3 were still apparent in Carolina, but Burrow and the offense did more than enough to dictate the tempo and finally capture the first win of the season. The chips of the season would have been too far stacked against them at 0-4 for it to feel salvageable.

This win reliefs pressure from a team that was feeling it leading into this week against Carolina. They can now settle down at the same record they had last year at this time and welcome AFC North play with the Ravens coming to Paycor Stadium next week. — Paul Dehner Jr., Bengals beat writer

Dalton another solid showing

The Panthers quarterback wasn’t as sharp as he was last week at Las Vegas and the Red Rifle failed to beat his former Bengals team. But the offense still looked better than it did during the two weeks in which Young was running it.

Dalton completed 25 of 40 for 220 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. Dalton’s interception came in the first half when Trey Hendrickson hit his arm as he threw, resulting in a floater that former Panthers safety Vonn Bell picked off. Dalton could have helped himself by stepping up in the pocket on the play. Dalton at least kept the Panthers competitive. — Joseph Person, Panthers beat writer

The Bengals defense continues to search for answers.

Even though the win serves as desperately needed relief, defense coordinator Lou Anarumo needs to figure out how to grow any teeth on his side of the ball. One week after Washington didn’t punt or commit a turnover, Dalton was able to move the Panthers up and down the field with relative ease.

A turnover and goal-line stand salvaged the score, but there was still no pass rush outside of Hendrickson (who left a neck injury in the fourth quarter), missed tackles and receivers running free down the field. He started a rotation with DJ Turner II subbing in for both Dax Hill and Cam Taylor-Britt periodically. Taylor-Britt was a problem getting beat deep, on third down and for a touchdown.

The Bengals defense thought they would be a better version than the one that finished near the bottom of the league in most categories last year, but seem to be regressing as the season goes.— Dehner

Missed tackles killed the Panthers

Carolina defenders put on a shoddy display of tackling on the Bengals’ last two touchdowns of the first half. Chase took his first pass of the game and turned into a 63-yard score after forcing three missed tackles — by safety Xavier Woods, outside linebacker Charles Harris and nickel corner Troy Hill.

A series later, the Bengals were out of timeouts and facing a third-and-goal at the 1 with five seconds left. Burrow swung a pass to Chase Brown, who burst through the tackle attempt of safety Nick Scott to find the end zone. Had Scott brought Brown down, the half would have run out with the score tied at 14. — Person

Multiple contributors with big plays for Bengals’ offense

What’s most encouraging about the state of the Bengals offense is how many different players are producing explosive plays. Of course, Chase will always be capable of the 63-yard catch and run.

This marks the 10th-career TD reception of 50+ yards by @Real10jayy__. He becomes the 4th player under the age of 25 with 10 TD receptions of 50+ yards in @NFL history.

He joins @ProFootballHOF Randy Moss (14), Harlon Hill (12) and Odell Beckham Jr. (10). https://t.co/szvR0um0G2

— NFL345 (@NFL345) September 29, 2024

Tee Higgins is able to live getting open in the intermediate levels, but getting big runs and receptions from Brown and critical broken tackles from Zack Moss, a gorgeous catch up the seam against middle-field open by Andrei Iosivas and Erick All Jr. made tacklers miss for first downs. It all added dimensions to what Burrow could do.

Even Burrow himself made plays sneaking out of the pocket to create offense and, outside of a poor decision on a fourth-quarter interception, played at a high level all day. — Dehner

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(Photo: Grant Halverson/Getty Images)