Bengals @ Panthers · Week 15

WEEK 15 · FINAL

THE READ

Panthers edge Bengals by 3

Bengals had it there to be taken. Panthers took it, 38-35. Joe Burrow was steady for Bengals — 7/10, 203 yards, 3 TD — in a losing effort. Bryce Young did the damage for Panthers — 17/22, 229 yards, 2 TD. Trevor Etienne's high-water mark for the year. Total yards: Panthers 434, Bengals 293.

Jaylen Rivers The insider

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Bengals	-4.0	+0.5	-4.5	-3
Panthers	-5.4	-2.9	-2.5	-2

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Bengals — in the hunt · 7-10 Panthers — NFC #4 · division · 9-8 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Ava Collins Beat reporter

Carolina's ground game was the difference. The Panthers ran for 205 yards and got 2 touchdowns out of it while Cincinnati managed just 90 on the ground, and that gap held up in a 38-35 finish where the Bengals couldn't keep pace despite Burrow throwing 3 scores.

Nicole Santos Beat reporter · replying

Bryce Young was efficient enough to win this thing—17 of 22, 229 yards, 2 scores—but he didn't have to be. Carolina's play-calling kept Cincinnati's pass rush honest while Etienne did the heavy lifting, which matters for how you think about what Young actually proved today.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Joe Burrow

Bengals

7/10, 203 yards, 3 TD

Bryce Young

Panthers

17/22, 229 yards, 2 TD

Trevor Etienne

Panthers

21 carries, 126 yards, 2 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

⭐ Trevor Etienne has not had a better afternoon this season.

📈 Chase Brown is in form: 129 rushing yards a game over his last three, against a season average of 88.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Total yards Panthers 434, Bengals 293 Panthers

On the ground Panthers 205, Bengals 90 Panthers

Through the air Panthers 229, Bengals 203 Panthers

Giveaways Panthers 2, Bengals 0 Bengals

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 15 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Balanced Pass 58% · Rush 42% · 29.0 scored, 33.5 allowed

9.8 yds/att 59.2% completions 6.2 yds/carry 317.1 yds/game 2.1 giveaways/game 7.1% sack rate last 5: 1-4

Primary weapon: Ja'Marr Chase WR — 37% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY HIGH

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 63 · Aggressive Balance 92 Ball security 42 Back usage 37% QB runs 1.8/game

Most exposed: ball security -- 2.1 giveaways a game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 99 WR 88 TE 76 RB 79 OL 75 DL 86 LB 77 DB 81

Best: Joe Burrow QB 99 Fastest: Ja'Marr Chase WR 96 SPD 5 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

Casp

Panthers · his last 8 games

Balanced

Pass / run59% / 41% Points for / against25.9 — 30.1 Margin-4.2 Giveaways a game1.8 Sacks taken8.6% of dropbacks Lead backTrevor Etienne · 9.9/g Top targetXavier Legette · 21% QB carries3.1 a game

zach_13.

Bengals · his last 8 games

Balanced One back

Pass / run56% / 44% Points for / against33.9 — 34.0 Margin-0.1 Giveaways a game1.6 Sacks taken6.4% of dropbacks Lead backChase Brown · 14.5/g Top targetJa'Marr Chase · 35% QB carries2.1 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES zach_13. against Casp — the men, not the teams

Casp leads it 1-0. Casp won the last one.

1 meeting avg 35.0 — 38.0 biggest: 3 pts to Casp

S1 · week 15 zach_13. 35 — 38 Casp CASP

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Bengals receivers vs Panthers secondary 88 v 82 BENGALS

Panthers receivers vs Bengals secondary 81 v 81 EVEN

Bengals line vs Panthers front 75 v 85 PANTHERS

Panthers line vs Bengals front 82 v 86 BENGALS

Bengals backs vs Panthers run defence 79 v 83 PANTHERS

Panthers backs vs Bengals run defence 80 v 83 BENGALS

Bengals passer vs Panthers secondary 99 v 82 BENGALS

Panthers passer vs Bengals secondary 84 v 81 PANTHERS

TOP PERFORMERS

Bryce Young QB Panthers 229 pass yds

Joe Burrow QB Bengals 203 pass yds

Trevor Etienne HB Panthers 126 rush yds

Chase Brown HB Bengals 80 rush yds

Bryce Young QB Panthers 72 rush yds

Chase Brown HB Bengals 68 rec yds

Tee Higgins WR Bengals 58 rec yds

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

BENGALS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Joe Burrow QB	7/10	203	3	0	0	66	152

PANTHERS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Bryce Young QB	17/22	229	2	0	1	48	140.1

BENGALS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	BTK	YAC	LNG
Chase Brown HB	14	80	5.7	2	19	17
Joe Burrow QB	3	10	3.3	0	1	7
Ja'Marr Chase WR	0	0	0	1	0	0
Mike Gesicki TE	0	0	0	1	0	0

PANTHERS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Trevor Etienne HB	21	126	6	2	3	31	29	0
Bryce Young QB	6	72	12	1	1	8	30	0
Chuba Hubbard HB	3	7	2.3	0	1	2	4	1
Xavier Legette WR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Jonathon Brooks HB	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Jalen Coker WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Tetairoa McMillan WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Mitchell Evans TE	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

BENGALS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Chase Brown HB	2	68	34	1	60	66
Tee Higgins WR	2	58	29	1	13	51
Mike Gesicki TE	2	28	14	0	11	19

PANTHERS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Chuba Hubbard HB	1	48	48	0	50	0	48
Trevor Etienne HB	2	30	15	0	28	0	28
Jalen Coker WR	3	30	10	0	24	0	14
Mitchell Evans TE	2	26	13	0	18	0	16
Tetairoa McMillan WR	2	23	11.5	0	7	0	15
Tommy Tremble TE	2	22	11	1	13	1	19
Xavier Legette WR	2	18	9	1	11	0	12
Jonathon Brooks HB	2	18	9	0	27	0	11
Ja'Tavion Sanders TE	1	14	14	0	11	0	14

BENGALS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD	FF
Sonny Styles MIKE	5	0	1	0
Demetrius Knight Jr WILL	4	0	0	0
DJ Turner II CB	4	0	1	0
Kyle Dugger SS	3	0	0	0
Cashius Howell LEDG	3	0	0	0
Dexter Lawrence II DT	2	1	0	0
Joe Giles-Harris SAM	2	0	0	0
Jordan Battle SS	2	0	0	0
Myles Murphy LEDG	1	0	0	0
Boye Mafe REDG	1	0	0	1
Barrett Carter MIKE	1	0	0	0
Bryan Cook FS	1	0	0	0
Swayze Bozeman MIKE	1	0	0	1
Jonathan Allen DT	1	0	1	0
Dax Hill CB	0	0	1	0

PANTHERS

PLAYER	TKL	FF
Devin Lloyd MIKE	3	0
Mike Jackson CB	3	0
Tre'von Moehrig FS	3	0
Jackson Kuwatch MIKE	2	0
Nic Scourton LEDG	1	0
Trevin Wallace WILL	1	0
Akayleb Evans CB	1	1
Jaycee Horn CB	1	0
Jared Bartlett WILL	1	0
Derrick Brown DT	1	0

BENGALS

nothing recorded

PANTHERS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Ryan Fitzgerald K	1/1	5/5	48

RECENT FORM

Bengals

L 47–56 vs Chiefs WK 14

W 51–32 vs Browns WK 13

W 35–27 vs Saints WK 12

Panthers

L 21–35 vs Saints WK 14

W 27–21 vs Vikings WK 13

W 39–38 vs Buccaneers WK 12

TEAM STATS

Bengals		Panthers
293	TOTAL YARDS	434
203	PASSING YARDS	229
90	RUSHING YARDS	205
0	SACKS ALLOWED	1
1	SACKS MADE	0
0	GIVEAWAYS	2
2	TAKEAWAYS	1

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

0 BENGALS — 1 PANTHERS

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