CHARLOTTE — Finally, the Bengals can breathe a sigh of relief.
Ja’Marr Chase scored on a spectacular 63-yard catch-and-run while Chase Brown added the first two rushing touchdowns of his career as the Bengals (1-3) held off the Panthers, 34-24, here Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.
Joe Burrow finished 22-of-31 passing for 232 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception, and outdueled former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, who was 25-of-40 for 220 yards and two touchdowns and an interception.
Leading 31-21, the Bengals were headed in for another score before Burrow suffered his first interception of the season, pass to the Carolina 5 intended for Chase that was picked off by Carolina safety Xavier Woods. Carolina converted that into a field goal.
Trey Hendrickson left with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter after being down on the field for five minutes. He headed to the medical tent and was evaluated for a concussion before being ruled out with a neck injury.
Evan McPherson converted from 56 and 46 yards, the second one coming with 1:14 left in the fourth to seal Cincinnati’s first win of the season.
The Bengals scored with one second remaining in the first half when Joe Burrow threw a pass in the flat to Zack Moss on third down with no timeouts remaining when Moss made former Bengals safety Nick Scott miss. The whiff allowed Moss to scramble into the end zone for a 21-14 halftime lead.
Then to open the second half, the Bengals put together an eight-play, 71-yard drive, capped by Chase Brown’s second touchdown plunge of the day from Brown, putting the Bengals up, 28-14.
.@Real10jayy__breakin’ tackles and scorin’ TDs.
ONE OF ONE.
📺: #CINvsCAR on FOX pic.twitter.com/tIilJQnntP
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 29, 2024
After allowing the Panthers to march 69 yards in 11 plays, the Bengals came up with their first big goal line stop of the season when Kris Jenkins Jr. stopped Chuba Hubbard on a dive off left guard on fourth and goal.
On third-and-2 at the Cincinnati 5, Mike Hilton went down in the end zone and grabbed his left knee. After being tended to for several minutes by training staff, he was helped to the sideline but returned on the next defensive series.
There was a hold-your-breath moment when Cordell Volson was pushed back into Burrow on a third down pass for Ja’Marr Chase and stepped on the quarterback’s left foot on an incomplete pass. Burrow popped up in the air immediately but hopped to the sideline. He was on the bench immediately reviewing plays on his Surface and didn’t require medical attention.
Cam Taylor-Britt did not have a good first half. He was beaten immediately on the first drive by Diontae Johnson for 39 yards on third-and-4 at the Carolina 36.
After giving up another pass play, defensive coordinator decided to employ more of a substitution pattern with DJ Turner picking up reps and Taylor-Britt coming in on third down.
The Bengals first score came after Trey Hendrickson got a hand on Andy Dalton and forced a popped up pass that Vonn Bell settled under for an interception that was returned to the Carolina 16.
That drive ended with Chase Brown’s first career rushing touchdown, a dive over from three yards out and a 7-0 Cincinnati lead. It was also Brown’s first TD of 2024.
Chuba Hubbard answered with a 3-yard TD run of his own.
After Evan McPherson converted a 56-yard field goal, the Panthers answered when Andy Dalton spotted Diontae Johnson, who beat Taylor-Britt for the 21-yard touchdown.
