As per Marvin Lewis' premonition, the Bengals first-team unit takes the night off with Bruce Gradkowski taking the field at Cincinnati's 20-yard line with Brian Leonard in the backfield.
On second down Gradkowski fakes the handoff and rolls out in a naked bootleg to the right. Chase Coffman runs towards the right sidelines and hauls in the 12-yard reception. On the next play, Gradkowski pitches to Cedric Peerman in shotgun, who finds a gap on the right edges with a good Dennis Roland block for another 10 yards.
With over nine minutes left in the third quarter, Brian Leonard coughs up the fumble and the Carolina Panthers recover the ball giving the bad guys the football on Cincinnati's 32-yard line.
Cincinnati's second-team defense comes into the game, watches DeAngelo Williams run a crossing pattern out of the backfield and picking up 11 yards on the pass. A minimal one-yard gain (Gibril Wilson makes a nice stop wrapping Williams) and an incomplete pass (great play to knock to deflect the pass by Jonathan Wade), the Panthers line up third-and-nine from Cincinnati's 20-yard line.
Newton takes the shotgun snap, looks over the middle and throws towards the front right pylons. Morgan Trent blanketed Steve Smith on the pass and forces the incomplete. Mare comes in and converts the 38-yard field goal. Cincinnati holds onto the lead 24-13.