Carolina Panthers vs. Cincinnati Bengals: Complete Week 6 Preview for Cincinnati

The Cincinnati Bengals, fresh off a humbling in front of a national audience in Foxborough, limp home to encounter a Carolina Panthers team that has failed to live up to expectations in the opening weeks of the season.

Although Cincinnati may be without star wideout A.J. Green, Marvin Lewis' team has a chance to right the ship one week removed from allowing 554 total yards to New England, the most a Bengals defense has surrendered since 2007.

The saving grace might just be a matchup against 3-2 Carolina led by local St. Xavier High School product Luke Kuechly, whose Panthers' pair of losses have come against AFC North teams Pittsburgh and Baltimore, teams that managed an average of 454.0 yards in the process.

If Cincinnati is to right the ship against a team many would still consider a postseason favorite, a back-to-basics approach through gritty defense and a commitment to the ground game on offense seem like obvious necessities.

The loss on prime time last weekend was ugly, but how the Bengals respond at home against Carolina will say even more about the character and potential of a team that has its eyes set on an AFC North crown and a fourth consecutive playoff berth.

Bengals Week 5 Recap

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Let's peel back the scab a moment and revisit the Sunday Night Football disaster.

Cincinnati showed its youth early on against the New England Patriots, falling behind early in the face of a no-huddle attack. Some may not want to hear it, but the Bengals defense being unprepared and unable to get calls in on time—against Tom Brady of all quarterbacks—was par for the course for this team when it comes to prime-time games.

Andy Dalton started off slow Sunday, but the blame eventually shifted to his receivers, who dropped numerous easy passes, the most notable being a surefire touchdown to Jermaine Gresham in the end zone.

Those who want a scapegoat need to look elsewhere—Dalton went 15-of-24 for 204 yards and a pair of scores despite the litany of miscues by his receivers. As a whole, the offense went 0-of-7 on third downs and the staff once again neglected the run, giving a stable of talented backs just 15 carries.

On the flip side, the defense got walloped on the ground to the tune of 220 rushing yards and was predictably weak against tight ends, allowing 100 yards and a score to Rob Gronkowski and another 85 yards and a score to Tim Wright.

"Anytime you get 43 points on you, that really hurts you," defensive tackle Domata Peko said, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. "Believe me; we're going to fix it. That's the thing we take pride in around here. If we have a problem, we’ll find out what it is and fix it. It’s really frustrating."

Better defense in all aspects is a must, and it helps that the team figures to get linebacker Vontaze Burfict back. The offense, chock-full of notable injuries, will certainly search for better offensive balance this time around.

News and Notes

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A.J. Green Goes Down

As if a Cincinnati Bengals offense without tight end Tyler Eifert and receiver Marvin Jones is not bad enough, A.J. Green went down this week in practice with yet another toe issue and was carted off the field.

As ESPN.com's Coley Harvey details, the injury seemed of the non-contact variety:

"

Only exercises the #Bengals were doing before Green got carted off were plyometrics and stretching. May have aggravated it then.

— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) October 8, 2014"

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com later added that the prognosis for Sunday is not great:

"

After meeting with his foot doctor this morning, #Bengals WR AJ Green is not expected to play this Sunday, source says.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 9, 2014"

With Green out of the picture, Mohamed Sanu and a hodgepodge of names are all that will make up the wideout corps Sunday against Carolina, should Jones not be able to give it a go.

Back to Basics

With Green out of the picture, it is safe to presume that offensive coordinator Hue Jackson will prioritize the ground game even more this week with his pair of talented backs, Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill. 

Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com notes that fans may want to expect a usage rate for both similar to the display in Week 2's win over Atlanta:

"With Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green (big toe) leaving Wednesday’s practice before it started, running backs Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill may be asked to do the same thing they did against Atlanta when Green left early and split 42 carries."

In that 24-10 win over Atlanta, Bernard found 90 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries while his rookie counterpart rumbled for 74 yards and a score of his own on 15 carries.

There is a fun wrinkle this week, too—Carolina is almost just as bad as Atlanta this year against the rush. What has normally been a strength for Luke Kuechly and Co. is now a weakness, as the Panthers surrender an average of 129.6 rushing yards per game, good for the No. 24 rank in the league.

Jackson's likely approach is predictable, but whether or not the Panthers can stop it is another conversation entirely.

New LB in Town

An already thin linebacker corps took another hit last week in New England when backup Sean Porter went down with an ACL injury that has subsequently landed him on injured reserve.

To fill his spot, the Bengals signed rookie linebacker Khairi Fortt, formerly of the New Orleans Saints. The fourth-round rookie will mostly contribute on special teams for the time being, per Harvey:

"Fortt's Bengals tenure will begin on special teams, where he's been told that he will play on return and coverage teams. He said he's still getting oriented with his new team and that he doesn't yet have a good enough grasp on the defense to contribute."

A young Bengals team gets younger as a result of the move, which is never a bad thing. Fortt should serve as strong athletic depth once he wraps his head around Paul Guenther's defense.

Injury Report

Stephan Savoia/Associated Press

Player	Position	Injury Status
Vontaze Burfict	LB	Questionable
Marvin Jones	WR	Questionable
Kevin Zeitler	G	Questionable
A.J. Green	WR	Questionable

 *All injury reports are from ESPN.com. Will be updated when official report is released.

By most accounts, Vontaze Burfict should be good to go for Cincinnati this week. Kevin Zeitler is more of a question mark once again, but Mike Pollak continues to play well in his place. 

Of the most concern on this short list are the names Marvin Jones and A.J. Green. The former hurt himself in practice before last week's game, delaying his much-needed comeback. The latter was removed from practice on a cart this week, and it is starting to look like his toe issue may be a season-long ailment after it did not heal over the course of the bye week.

X-Factors and Matchups to Watch

Stephan Savoia/Associated Press

Greg Olsen vs. Bengals Defense

As mentioned earlier, the Cincinnati Bengals got absolutely torched by a pair of New England Patriots tight ends last week, and one was a relative unknown.

This has been a problem in Cincinnati for years and has been rather consistent this year, too. Week 1 against Baltimore, Dennis Pitta caught 10 passes for 83 yards. Week 3 against Tennessee, Delanie Walker did some damage with four receptions for 54 yards.

Carolina's Greg Olsen is more than capable of doing damage, too, as his numbers this year show:

OPP	REC	TGTS	YDS	TD
at TB	8	11	83	1
vs. DET	6	8	72	0
vs. PIT	5	7	69	1
at BAL	2	5	30	0
vs. CHI	6	9	72	2

If Paul Guenther's defense does not pick up the slack in this area, the veteran Olsen will have a field day. Quarterback Cam Newton will undoubtedly be looking his way the most Sunday.

Mohamed Sanu vs. Carolina Secondary

With a wealth of names watching from the sideline, the highlight being A.J. Green, it will be up to Mohamed Sanu to carry the load at wideout Sunday with Carolina in town. 

Sanu has performed quite well in place of Marvin Jones this season, most recently catching five passes for 70 yards and a score. His other score this season came against Atlanta in Week 2 when he caught three balls for 84 yards.

Now, though, Sanu is tasked with leading the unit outright, which in the wake of injuries will see him complemented by names such as Brandon Tate, Dane Sanzenbacher and James Wright.

Carolina does rank in the middle of the pack at No. 16 overall with an average of 238.8 passing yards surrendered per game. But Sanu has rarely been the surefire No. 1 receiver, instead benefiting from the wealth of coverage thrown Green's way.

If Sanu can create separation from the likes of Antoine Cason and Josh Norman, the life of Andy Dalton will be simplistic Sunday. If not, the offense may find itself restricted to a one-dimensional attack.

Bengals' X-Factor of the Week: Giovani Bernard

More than any one player, though, Giovani Bernard's importance cannot be stressed enough Sunday.

When Green was out for most of that contest against Atlanta, the North Carolina product racked up a team-high six targets in the passing game, which turned into five receptions for 79 yards. He also ran it 27 times for 90 yards and a score.

It will be much tougher sledding against a Carolina defense that has failed to play to its potential so far this season, but the unit gets a bit of a break in that all it has to do is dial in on Bernard and the run game.

To that end, Bernard's ability to produce will take pressure off a hobbled crop of receivers and, perhaps most importantly, Dalton. Things such as Bernard lining up in the slot and on gadget plays as a receiver, even if they do not gain a ton of yardage, keep a defense honest.

Sunday is an opportunity for the second-year player to hoist a team on his back against an alleged contender and prevent a two-game losing streak.

Prediction

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Back to reality for the Cincinnati Bengals after being in cruise control for the first few weeks of the season. 

Now Andy Dalton and Co. find themselves in a similar position to that of New England last week. The team is sure to come out just as angry, although it will be difficult to fire on all cylinders without A.J. Green and a host of others in the lineup.

The saving grace for Cincinnati, perhaps more than anything else, is the potential return of Vontaze Burfict. Not necessarily because Carolina is great at rushing the ball—it is not thanks to a wealth of injuries to the backfield this year—but because these Bengals need a bite.

Burfict is a leader and will do much to get the defense as a whole back on track.

Offensively, it is nothing but a good sign that Dalton remained composed and effective in the face of an ugly blowout last week. The drop issues from his targets will only increase with Green now out of the picture as well, but the task falls in Hue Jackson's hands to make sure that the ground game is the focus and that when the team does take to the air, it is short and sweet with high-percentage looks for all involved.

Cam Newton can hurt the Bengals in a lot of ways, but as long as Cincinnati limits big plays to Greg Olsen and Kelvin Benjamin, Cincinnati should be able to get a quality bounce-back win Sunday. Just expect it to be a close contest throughout, as the easy portion of the schedule is a thing of the past. 

Prediction: Bengals 28, Panthers 24

Note: Stats courtesy of NFL.com. All advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus (subscription required).