CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It was the first of consecutive how-good-are-we-really? tests for the Bengals. They didn’t flunk. They didn’t exactly pass, either. Panthers 31, Bengals 21. it wasn’t a game the Bengals were supposed to win. And they didn’t look awful in not winning it.
No Joe Mixon, no A.J. Green for all but three snaps to start the second half. On the road, not enough rocks for David’s slingshot. And still, the players decided afterward they let this win slip away, like a fish off a hook… or Christian McCaffrey in the open field.
“I hope it looked that way.