Bengals pull away from Panthers for first win of season

Joe Burrow threw for two touchdowns and Chase Brown ran for two scores as the Cincinnati Bengals finally broke into the win column, topping the Carolina Panthers 34-24 on Sunday afternoon in Charlotte, N.C. The Bengals (1-3) scored 17 straight points to pull away from a tie score. Ja'Marr Chase made a 63-yard touchdown reception. Burrow was 22-for-31 passing with 232 yards and an interception, and Brown finished with 80 rushing yards on 15 carries. Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton, playing against his former team, was 25-for-40 passing for 220 yards and two touchdown throws with an interception. Chuba Hubbard added 104 yards and a touchdown on the ground on 18 attempts for Carolina (1-3). Diontae Johnson's 21-yard touchdown reception in the final minute of the third quarter gave Carolina hope. Then Xavier Woods picked off Burrow, leading to Eddy Pineiro's 48-yard field goal with 7:42 remaining, cutting Cincinnati's lead to 31-24. Carolina had a chance to pull even, but the Panthers went three-and-out and punted back to the Bengals. Cincinnati then kept the ball for more than three minutes as the Panthers used all three of their timeouts, with Evan McPherson's 46-yard field goal making it a two-possession lead with 1:14 to play. Cincinnati needed to go only 16 yards for the game's first points after Vonn Bell's interception and 32-yard return. Brown ran in from 3 yards out. Hubbard's 3-yard run put the Panthers on the board before Burrow's long pass to play to Chase. Carolina pulled even again on Xavier Legette's 8-yard pass from Dalton with 1:09 to play in the half. The Bengals then hustled to go 66 yards in eight plays, capped by Burrow's 1-yard toss to Zack Moss with 1 second left. The Bengals went 71 yards on the opening possession of the second half, with Brown going 1 yard for the TD. McPherson's 56-yard field goal stretched the edge to 31-14. The Panthers' first drive of the game ended in frustration, as they drove to the Cincinnati 1-yard line but were unable to get to the end zone on three straight plays. --Field Level Media