CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Cincinnati Bengals earned their first victory of the season with a tight win over the Carolina Panthers.
The Bengals (1-3) scored a touchdown on four of their first five drives and outpaced the Panthers (1-3) to win 34-24.
Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow threw for 232 yards passing and two touchdowns while running back Chase Brown had 80 yards rushing and two scores. Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton had 220 yards passing and tossed two touchdowns. Running back Chuba Hubbard rushed for 104 yards, his second 100-yard rushing effort in a row.
The matchup was the fourth start for Dalton against the Bengals, who he played for from 2011 to 2019. The loss makes Dalton 2-2 against his former team.
Carolina reached Cincinnati’s 1-yard-line on its opening drive but failed to score on a fourth down Chuba Hubbard run, turning the ball over to the Bengals.
Dalton threw his first interception as a Panther on the next drive. Former Panthers safety Vonn Bell made the pick, setting the Bengals up in the red zone.
The Bengals completed the short 16-yard drive with a touchdown from running back Chase Brown.
Carolina responded with a rushing score of their own. Hubbard scored on a 3-yard plunge to tie the game at 7-7. The drive featured a fourth down conversion where a Dionte Johnson reception earned just enough yards to pick up the first down.
Cincinnati took the lead on the next drive with a miraculous play from receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Burrow completed a pass to Chase near midfield between the hash marks before Chase turned toward the sideline, broke a few tackles, and sprinted to the end zone for a 63-yard score.
The Panthers responded with an 11-play drive that ended with receiver Xavier Legette’s first touchdown. Dalton found Legette for the 8-yard score with under one minute left in the first half.
Burrow drove the Bengals to Carolina’s 1-yard-line after a pair of penalties on Panthers defensive backs covering receiver Tee Higgins. Cornerback Michael Jackson was called for pass interference on a deep pass before Jaycee Horn committed the same penalty on the next play. Cincinnati scored on a short pass to running back Zack Moss with one second left in the half. The 21-14 lead was a huge momentum swing for the Bengals.
Brown rushed for another score on Cincinnati's first drive of the second half to put the Bengals up 28-14. Carolina's next two drives ended in a punt and a turnover on downs from its own 35-yard line. The Bengals responded with a field goal to go up 31-14.
The Panthers pulled within 10 after a 21-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Johnson on the team's next drive.
Safety Xavier Woods intercepted a Burrow pass in the red zone on the next drive and returned the turnover 33 yards. The Panthers added an Eddy Piñeiro field goal to pull within one score.
The Bengals controlled the clock on a late drive as their rushing game pushed them slowly into Carolina territory.
This story will be updated.