Grading Panthers' tough home loss to Bengals: How Andy Dalton, offense performed in Week 4

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers were snapped back to reality by the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

While veteran QB Andy Dalton continued to lead the offense with competence, the Carolina defense allowed six scoring drives in a 34-24 home loss in Week 4. Unlike in last week’s blowout win against the Las Vegas Raiders, the complementary football — for the most part — wasn’t there for Dave Canales and company on their home turf.

Despite four scoring drives from Dalton and the offense, the Panthers (1-3) simply couldn’t keep up with the Bengals (1-3) once the deficit hit double digits at halftime.

Every time the Panthers would build some momentum on offense, the defense would miss a big tackle or lose an assignment in coverage for a huge gain. Every time the defense would get a stop, the offense wouldn’t fully take advantage.

With their backs against the wall, the formerly winless Bengals pounced on the Panthers and didn’t completely let up once they had a substantial lead.

Here is how each unit graded out in the loss against the Bengals:

Andy Dalton, Panthers’ pass offense vs. Bengals

Dalton opened up the game with an explosive throw to wideout Diontae Johnson, who beat Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt down the field for a 39-yard gain, setting the Panthers up in scoring territory early. He then used quick passes to wideout Xavier Legette and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders to get them to the cusp of the goal line. Unfortunately, three consecutive runs against a middling run defense didn’t lead to a touchdown.

Dalton had to deal with a pair of drops by Johnson during the first two drives. However, the veteran quarterback was able to take advantage of a couple of connections with Legette. But Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendrickson was able to beat left tackle Ikem Ekwonu to deflect a Dalton pass that was ultimately picked off by former Panthers safety Vonn Bell for Cincinnati. The turnover also went for a 32-yard gain.

Despite the first-quarter turnover, Canales kept his foot on the gas with the passing game. The head coach/play-caller devised several passing opportunities through creative scheming. From rub routes to mesh concepts, Canales called plays that manufactured open receivers. Dalton was able to find Johnson and Ja’Tavion Sanders for big conversions on the third series of the matchup, which was a capped by two consecutive runs and a touchdown on the ground.

Dalton did a good job closing out the first half, as he led back-to-back touchdown-scoring drives. He capped the second scoring series with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Legette. It was the rookie wideout’s first touchdown catch as a pro.

Through two quarters, Dalton completed 16-of-21 passes for 134 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Legette caught all five of this first-half targets for 49 yards and a touchdown. Johnson produced five catches for 54 yards on 10 targets in the first half.

Dalton’s first drive of the second half ended with the first punt of the game for the Panthers. Dalton missed a wide open Miles Sanders on a flat route that was well-timed. It was one of Dalton’s few clear miscues of the game.

The Panthers showed signs of life toward the end of the third quarter when Dalton hit Johnson for a 21-yard touchdown completion. The quick scoring drive kept the Panthers in the game entering the fourth quarter.

Jonathan Mingo had a brutal drop over the middle on first down late in the fourth quarter. That stalled momentum on the late series and the Panthers were forced to punt for the third time in the game.

Dalton completed 25-of-40 passes for 220 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against the Bengals. Legette finished with six catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, while Johnson had 83 receiving yards and a touchdown. Mingo chipped in three catches for 24 yards.

It should be noted Dalton was forced to overcome at least three drops from his top targets on the day. But he wasn’t sacked all afternoon, which was a largely positive sign.

Grade: B

Chuba Hubbard, run offense vs. Cincinnati

The Panthers started the game with a 6-yard run by Chuba Hubbard. Unfortunately, after that initial surge, the running game had a tough first series. Hubbard was stopped for little to no gain on three straight runs near the goal line, ultimately forcing a turnover on downs.

Hubbard came back with a vengeance in the second quarter. He broke out for a 17-yard run in the red zone before scoring his first rushing touchdown of the season on a 3-yard tote to the end zone. Through three series, Hubbard picked up 47 rushing yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

Backup running back Miles Sanders got into the act in the second quarter. He picked up 10 yards on a pair of carries on the fourth series of the game. He arguably should have gotten more on the second of the back-to-back totes but the refs blew the whistle dead before Sanders was pushed forward by his offensive line. He later picked up a 14-yard gain on the same series at the end of the second quarter.

Hubbard set up the Panthers’ third scoring drive of the game with a nifty 38-yard run. The running back shot out of the backfield like he was sprung from a cannon to churn up the big gain.

Hubbard, the Panthers’ top back, exceeded 100 rushing yards for the second consecutive game, making him the first to do so since D’Onta Foreman in 2022.

Hubbard finished the game with 18 carries for 104 yards (5.8 yards per carry) and a touchdown. The entire running game picked up 151 yards (5.4 YPC) and a score on 28 total totes.

Grade: B+

Jaycee Horn, pass defense vs. Bengals

After allowing a pair of first-down conversions through the air to Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, the Panthers’ pass defense came up with a big third-down stop. Defensive end A’Shawn Robinson jumped over a blocking lineman and batted a Joe Burrow throw out of the air to force an incompletion and a Cincinnati punt.

The Bengals answered the Panthers’ first scoring drive of the game with a massive momentum-swinging play by wideout Ja’Marr Chase. Burrow hit Chase over the middle for a short connection, but the wideout bounced off three defenders — safety Xavier Woods, outside linebacker Charles Harris and nickel cornerback Troy Hill — before zooming to the end zone for a 63-yard touchdown. The scoring play put the Bengals up by a touchdown, again.

Burrow’s brilliance down the field shone at the end of the second quarter. Burrow connected with wideout Andrei Iosivas for a 29-yard gain down the seam with less than 45 seconds left in the first half. Iosivas sped past Hill for the big gain. That huge play followed an 11-yard connection between Burrow and Higgins. The Panthers were then called for back-to-back pass interference penalties in the end zone, with the second one on cornerback Jaycee Horn looking particularly superficial. Cincinnati capped the drive with a short passing touchdown to running back Zack Moss, who struggled to stay upright on his way to the end zone.

The Panthers struggled to tackle pass catchers in the open field in the third quarter. Chase, in particular, was tough to bring down.

Carolina’s pass rush was virtually nonexistent Sunday, and the defense paid for it. Burrow was somehow able to keep a play alive for several seconds, despite a ton of traffic in the backfield to end the third quarter. After spinning out of pressure, Burrow hit Moss for a 21-yard gain and a first down.

But with a rare pass-rush sighting from Jadeveon Clowey — who missed out on a sack — Burrow made a really poor throw that was picked off by Woods near the end zone. The safety returned the ball to the Carolina 40-yard line to put the offense in great position to take advantage of the score. The turnover led to a field goal that cut the deficit to seven points with more than seven minutes to play.

Burrow completed 22-of-31 passes for 232 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the game. Chase caught three passes for 85 yards and touchdown, while Higgins produced six catches for 60 yards.

Grade: C-

Jadeveon Clowney, run defense vs. Cincinnati

The Panthers did a solid job against the run in the first two series of the game. However, they ultimately relented to running back Chase Brown, who picked up a 3-yard touchdown on the ground after the Bell interception return.

The Bengals’ running game, outside of the initial touchdown, was pretty forgettable in the first half. The duo of Moss and Brown picked up a combined 11 yards and a touchdown on 12 runs in the first two quarters.

The Bengals’ run game was a bit more effective in the second half. Brown pulled off back-to-back runs for a gain of 28 yards. Burrow also picked up a first down on a 10-yard carry. Brown later capped the first drive of the second half with a 1-yard touchdown score.

With a big lead in place, the Bengals were able to control the clock with the running game. The entire rushing offense finished the game with 31 carries for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

Grade: C-

Eddy Piñeiro, special teams vs. Bengals

The Panthers didn’t punt until there was 9:10 left in the third quarter. By then, the unit had already had an excellent stop on its first kickoff coverage opportunity of the game, and kicker Eddy Piñeiro had knocked in a pair of extra-point attempts. Practice squad call-up linebacker Thomas Incoom was able to stop the opening kickoff return of the game for the Bengals at the Cincinnati 19-yard line.

A fake punt throw by Johnny Hekker to tight end Feleipe Franks went incomplete after the receiver dropped the ball on his way to the ground. The ball should have been caught, as Franks was open and Hekker made an accurate throw. It was a fine call but poor execution by Franks on the first target of his tenure with the Panthers. That failure led to a 56-yard field goal make by kicker Evan McPherson.

Piñeiro made a somewhat pivotal 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. The make was his sixth in a row this season.

Grade: B

Overall grade vs. Cincinnati

For the most part, the offense looked competent. The defense, though, looked overmatched.

Ejiro Evero’s defense is largely devoid of talent where it matters, and the results showed Sunday. The front seven — especially with Josey Jewell (groin) and Shaq Thompson (heel) nursing second-half injuries — is a regular who’s who of whom (!?!) and the Bengals were just too good to overcome the talent mismatch.

Still, the offense was encouraging, as Canales’ play-calling was creative. Dalton spread the ball around well, and despite hiccups from the QB and his receivers, there were several big plays to point out.

This team’s strength is the running game with the offensive line and Hubbard. And while the Panthers can’t always be the most balanced offense on the field because of their shortcomings on defense, the Week 4 performance confirmed that the run game should anchor the squad weekly.

Overall grade: C+

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