Carolina @ Cincinnati preview
Paul Brown Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 25, 2011 ) Carolina 13, Cincinnati 24
The Cincinnati Bengals aim for their 12th straight regular-season home victory when they host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday in a clash of division leaders. The Panthers rallied for a 31-24 win against Chicago last week to take a one-game lead over Atlanta and New Orleans in the NFC South, while the Bengals have a half-game cushion over Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the AFC North. Carolina hopes for a better result than its first two matchups with AFC North opponents this season — its two losses were 37-19 to Pittsburgh and 38-10 at Baltimore.
The Bengals had emerged as a popular Super Bowl favorite after a 3-0 start, but they're reeling from their first loss — a 43-17 drubbing at New England. "Sure it's disappointing, but it's one game … and we're still on top in the division," Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton told the team's website. "Everything's in front of us if we regroup and go take care of it." Cincinnati has won the past two meetings, but the teams haven't squared off since 2010.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Bengals -6.5. O/U: 43.5
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (3-2): Carolina has had difficulty running the ball, in part because of injuries to its top three backs, but will have an opportunity to get the ground game going against a Bengals defense that ranks 27th against the run (140 yards per game). Getting quarterback Cam Newton more involved in the run game would help. After averaging 42.3 rushing yards per game over his first three seasons, he has totaled only 42 yards through four games in 2014. It's a homecoming for Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, a Cincinnati native who leads the team with 61 tackles.
ABOUT THE BENGALS (3-1): Cincinnati hopes everything about last week's game was an anomaly, because none of the trends that made the Bengals the league's last remaining undefeated team held true. The bend-but-don't-break defense — the Bengals rank 27th in total defense but sixth in scoring defense — was snapped by the Patriots, and the offense wasn't much better. Dalton and the offense might be hard-pressed to bounce back because star receiver A.J. Green was held out of practice Thursday and is listed as doubtful after aggravating a toe injury that caused him to miss most of the Bengals' Week 2 win over Atlanta.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Cincinnati has won its last seven regular-season home games by an average of 22.9 points and the closest contest was a 14-point victory.
2. Newton has seven 300-yard passing games, one shy of tying Steve Beuerlein for second on the franchise's all-time list.
3. The Bengals have scored on all 12 of their red-zone trips (seven TDs, five field goals), while Carolina has allowed points on 12 of opponents' 13 trips inside the 20 (10 TDs, two field goals).
PREDICTION: Bengals 24, Panthers 20