Panthers up next for winless Bengals: ‘If we can string some wins together, we’ll be right back in this thing’

Karras was a key member of the 2010 Cathedral (Ind.) High School football team that dropped a third straight loss to Cincinnati-St. Xavier at the start of the season, then won 10 of the next 11 games en route to the Class 4A state title. The high school and NFL levels are not comparable, but the mentality it takes to climb out of any 0-3 hole is the same.

The Bengals will try to use a 38-33 loss to the Washington Commanders as the springboard to a turnaround.

“We lost to St. X on Ballaban Field, and just got on a roll,” Karras recalled. “Everyone buckled up. We can’t start looking down to the end of the season. There’s 14 games left. We can’t be like, ‘We’ve got to get ourselves in the dance now.’ We’ve got to go beat Carolina, a team that just came off a big win against the Raiders, so we have a lot of things we need to clean up, and guys are going to be ready to work. It is what it is, 0-3 is the reality so let’s be 1-3.”

Cincinnati was favored heavily in losses to New England and Washington, but the Bengals gave Kansas City a fight as underdogs and only lost by a point on a last-second field goal. Three one-score losses now haunt them as it will now take at least a month to get above .500.

During the Super-Bowl era, only six of the 255 teams that started 0-3 made the playoffs, the last one to do it being the 2018 Houston Texans. History says the odds are stacked against the Bengals now, but they can’t view it that way.

“I think we’ve got a ton of great guys in here, guys that leave it all on the field,” Karras said. “... We have guys that have been through it. We have a veteran team and a lot of dynamic young players so we’re coming into a short week. (Tuesday) is off. We’ll let everyone lick their wounds, being 0-3, but we’re in it now, fellas, and it’s time to rally ourselves out of it because it’s still wide open for us. Obviously, it’s a little harder at 0-3, but the division is open, this league is open, and if we can string some wins together, we’ll be right back in this thing.”

Carolina is another opponent many likely penciled in as a win for Cincinnati, but the Panthers are coming off their first victory after beating Las Vegas 36-22 on the road Sunday behind a strong performance from former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton. Dalton replaced Bryce Young after Young completed just 55.4 percent of his passes and threw three interceptions over the first two games.

Dalton, who is now 37 years old, threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns without an interception against the Raiders, and he is 2-1 against his former Cincinnati team since departing in 2020 with Joe Burrow’s arrival. Dalton won games with Dallas and Chicago in 2020 and 2021 but the Bengals beat him and the New Orleans Saints in their last meeting in 2022.

The Panthers rank among the bottom 10 in most offensive categories due to their slow start, and just as they get things going on that end, they lose one of their big weapons. Adam Thielen, who caught a 31-yard touchdown pass Sunday, went on injured reserve Tuesday with a hamstring injury.

Thielen was the team’s second-leading receiver behind Diontae Johnson, who has 156 yards on eight catches and one touchdown reception. Chuba Hubbard leads the running backs with 192 yards on 37 carries.

Even with a win Sunday, Carolina has allowed the most points in the NFL this season while being outscored 95-49. The Panthers rank 17th in passing yards allowed (605) and 28th in rushing yards allowed (454). Former Bengals safety Nick Scott was questionable last week with a neck injury but played in a reserve role and had six tackles.

This game will mark Burrow’s first facing former AFC North foe Jadeveon Clowney since Clowney hit him on the play before he felt his wrist pop throwing a touchdown pass against the Ravens last year. He didn’t realize he had injured the wrist until he felt it pop on the throw, and that ended his season. Clowney has one sack for the Panthers and nine tackles.

Linebacker Shaq Thompson paces the defense with 30 tackles, and defensive end Jayden Peevy has 1.5 sacks.

“We have to go take it,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “... It’s a kick in the gut when you put in all this work in the offseason, in training camp, and (you) feel really good about the team, and you start off 0-3. But again, that is where we are right now, and I told these guys we’ve got to find a way to get a win next Sunday and we’ll get this thing moving in the right direction. But right now, there’s a lot of frustration I know from the people that are supporting us, and we’re frustrated with ourselves that we haven’t found a way to win yet. We’ve just got to figure that out, but no one’s going to point fingers. We’ve put ourselves in a hole that I firmly believe we can dig ourselves out of. I’m excited to watch and see how this team responds.”

SUNDAY’S GAME

Bengals at Panthers, 1 p.m., Fox, 1530, 102.7, 104.7