The Panthers, who had 6 yards passing and two first downs in the first half, finally showed some spark in the third quarter. Clausen led Carolina on an eight-play, 75-yard drive capped by Stewart's 1-yard TD run to cut the deficit to 10-7.

The Bengals got a 50-yard field goal from Nugent early in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers then seemed to have something going when Clausen finally found Steve Smith for his first catch of the day on the ensuing possession. But Stewart fumbled on the next play, and Cincinnati's Robert Geathers recovered.

It took just three plays for Palmer to get Cincinnati in the end zone to atone for his shaky performance.

Palmer was picked off by Captain Munnerlyn on his first possession and by Charles Godfrey later in the first half. He could've had four more picks had Carolina defenders hung on.

The final minute of the first half perhaps best summed up the offensive ugliness prevalent despite the presence of big-name receivers Ochocinco, Owens and Smith.

Carolina's Mike Goodson dropped the ball as he took a handoff and kneed it high in the air and 10 yards downfield, where it was recovered by Cincinnati's Morgan Trent at the Carolina 27.

The Bengals then seemingly were on their way to a half-ending touchdown when Palmer inexplicably threw a pass over the middle to Jermaine Gresham at the Carolina 5 with no timeouts left. Palmer, at first, didn't seem to sense the urgency and couldn't get a snap off before the half ended.

Palmer was 19 of 37 for 195 yards and Ochocinco and Owens combined for eight catches for 76 yards.

The running duo of Stewart and DeAngelo Williams managed just 77 yards for the Panthers, who have three touchdowns and 12 turnovers.

Game stats