Cincinnati Bengals secure first win of the season, beat Carolina Panthers 34-24

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Bengals have won their first game of the season, beating the Carolina Panthers 34-24 Sunday.

Joe Burrow and company faced former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton in a matchup that had both highs and lows for Cincinnati.

One of Cincinnati's highlights came from a 63-yard touchdown from Burrow to Ja'Marr Chase. In Chase's first target of the game, he dodged multiple defenders before breaking away into the end zone.

Burrow — who threw 22-for-31, 232 yards and two touchdowns — also a had a short touchdown pass to Zack Moss to give Cincinnati the lead going into halftime.

Burrow also showed off his scrambling skills, finding his way out of what looked like an impossible situation ending in a sack.

While Burrow had several touchdowns, he did also throw his first interception of the season. In what seemed like communication breakdown, Burrow scrambled out of a sticky situation, went to target Chase and threw the ball into the arms of Carolina safety Xavier Woods.

Cincinnati also saw an explosive performance from running back Chase Brown.

Brown broke through the Panthers defense on several occurrences, running in two touchdowns — the first two of his career — for the Bengals.

In terms of defense, Cincinnati saw improvement but there were still a variety of missed tackles, and the Panthers run game — specifically running back Chuba Hubbard — seemed difficult to stop. Despite this, Cincinnati did have a massive 4th and goal stop on the Panthers' opening drive.

Trey Hendrickson also later tipped a pass attempt from Dalton, leading to an interception from Von Bell.

The Bengals defense also forced its first punt against an offense since its Week 2 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.

While the Bengals have a win behind them now, they didn't come out unscathed. Already dealing with injuries on the defensive line, Cincinnati saw Hendrickson go down late in the game after colliding with a player. After he was down for several moments, Hendrickson was able to walk off the field under his own power. He was designated out for the rest of the game with a neck injury.

Both head coach Zac Taylor and Burrow said there were both positives and negatives in the victory.

“It’s good to get a win... still things to clean up… there was good complimentary football," Taylor said during his post-game press conference.

Cincinnati is back in Paycor Stadium next week facing its first AFC North opponent of the season, the Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals and Ravens kickoff Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. ET.