First quarter: Bengals 7, Panthers 0

[Laetitia]

The Panthers are down 7-0, and Jimmy Clausen's had better days.

Clausen's 1-of-4 passing for 14 yards, with a pick and a fumble.

He was set up perfectly on his first possession, with a Captain Munnerlyn interception giving him the ball at his own 47.

Then a 26-yard run by DeAngelo Williams gave him a chance at getting easy points, but he fumbled his third snap as a starter and the Bengals recovered.

Cincinnati went up 7-0 on a touchdown by Cedric Benson, which followed a tough second series for Clausen. When a punt pinned them at their own 4, the Panthers ran three straight times, which the crowd didn't like.

But with a rookie QB and one reliable WR, what did you expect John Fox to do? He wasn't going to expose Clausen to undue risk there.

The Bengals drive was helped along by a pair of calls the home crowd didn't like. An apparent fumble by Terrell Owens was called off when officials granted him forward progress, which can't be challenged.

Then Jordan Pugh was called for a pass interferense in the end zone, setting up Benson's score.

From there, Bengals QB Carson Palmer and Clausen traded picks (Palmer's having an awful day), and the quarter ended, mercifully.

-- Darin Gantt

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[ckad79]

we look like an expansion team...

[PantherPhann]

This really pains me to say this, but we suck. The QB is suppose to throw the ball....right! Going into halftime with only 4 attempts and why the heck does Clausen continue to have problem with the snap? Com-on man, lets play ball O. We gonna run our D in the ground.....

[PantherPhann]

I haven't verified this, but this has to be the worst, at least one of the worst half time stats in NFL History:

POS Name Comp Att Yds TD Int LG Fmb

QB Clausen 1 5 14 0 1 14 2

RB D. Will n/a 5 29 0 n/a 26 0 (4 for 3yds)

RB J. Stew n/a 5 13 0 n/a 7 0 (4 for 6yds)

WR M. Goodson n/a 1 14 0 n/a 14 0

yes we had two Int's on Defense and 3 almost Int's. You know things are bad when you count almost as a positive thing. But I'm talking under 60 yrds of Offense. F-ing pathetic.