Spirits were suddenly much higher for the Carolina Panthers heading into week four vs the Cincinnati Bengals following last week's road win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The Panthers of course recently benched second year quarterback Bryce Young in favor of veteran Andy Dalton, and Dalton continued to play relatively well to open the game on Sunday vs Cincinnati.

Late in the first half, Dalton was able to find rookie wide receiver Xavier Legette in the end zone for the first touchdown of his young NFL Career, and Legette celebrated by doing a horseback riding celebration (via Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team on X, formerly Twitter, per the official NFL account).

https://x.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1840455485943620085

The play (and ensuing extra point) tied the game up at 14 with just over a minute left to play in a first half that had been largely controlled by Joe Burrow and the Bengals, who themselves are still looking for their first win of the season.

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Unfortunately for Carolina, that tied score wouldn't last for long, as Cincinnati would ultimately take a 21-14 lead into the locker room for halftime with a late first half touchdown.

Still, things are undeniably going better for the Panthers at this time than they were just a couple of weeks ago. Carolina no longer looks completely overmatched every time they step on the field, and while Dalton may not be an MVP candidate, his experience has certainly provided a stabilizing presence for an offense full of young players, including Legette, who was selected in the first round of this past NFL Draft out of Carolina.

In any case, after Sunday's game vs the Bengals is complete, the Panthers will next take the field next week vs the Chicago Bears on the road. That game is slated to begin at 1:00 PM ET from Soldier Field.