The Carolina Panthers have endured two tough tests in the beginning weeks of their 2018 campaign. While the Panthers’ offense was able to do just enough to keep the team afloat Carolina Panthers Hoodie , Carolina fell to the Falcons 31-24 for their first loss of the season. The Panthers’ offense is still adjusting to life after Greg Olsen’s foot injury. Despite the loss, Cam Newton looked solid with a 71.1% pass completion and was able to test things out as he looks for a new safety target.Things won’t get any easier for the Panthers as they take on an undefeated (2-0) Bengals team. The Bengals are coming off a 34-23 win over the Ravens. The Bengals have tallied a total of 68 points in their first games of the season—the second highest point total after the first two games of a season in team history. The Bengals also have a defense to compliment their offense. Their defense may be young, but they’re able to create turnovers in critical moments. Here are the four keys for the Panthers’ offense to defeat the Bengals’ defense:Take Pressure off Newton: It’s tiresome to say, but the injuries on the offensive line is still a huge factor to how the offense is playing. So far, the offensive line has lacked in keeping Newton protected. In a matter of two games, Newton has already been sacked a total of five times (although two of those sacks can be attributed to other factors). The Bengals defense has tallied six sacks, including 4 in their last match-up against the Ravens. Defensive tackle Geno Atkins is one of the best in his position. He’s quick at getting to the quarterback, totaling nine tackles and three sacks so far. It’s critical to keep Newton away from one of the most disruptive interior defenders in the league. Carlos Dunlap will be another force to be reckoned with. Between he and Atkins, they have combined for nine quarterback hits so far. Prevent Turnovers: The Bengals have a young defense Cheap Customized Carolina Panthers Jerseys , but they play like veterans. Cincinnati is tied for No. 2 in the league in turnover margin. They have forced five turnovers—including a scoop and score fumble recovery touchdown that won the game against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1. Of those five turnovers, four of them have resulted in setting up points for the Bengals.Although the Panthers have been fairly good at not turning over the ball (one fumble, one interception), it’ll be key to not allow any mishaps against a team that’s able to capitalize on turnovers.Key in on Christian McCaffrey: Without Olsen, it was clear that McCaffrey was Newton’s safety net against the Falcons. McCaffrey led the team with 14 catches and 102 yards. With defenders like Atkins, Dunlap, and Jordan Evans, a run game may not be realistic. But the Panthers can utilize McCaffrey in quick passes to keep the momentum going. Get a pass game going: The Bengals’ defense has allowed 836 total offensive yards—695 of those coming through the air. The Panthers’ receiving corps hasn’t been the most efficient on catching passes, but this is the week to get a pass game going. Last week www.panthersfootballauthentic.com , D.J. Moore scored his first touchdown— a 51-yard catch and run that showed off his amazing skills in space—on his first NFL reception against the Falcons.Devin Funchess was strong in Olsen’s absence bringing in seven of nine targets for 77 yards. The potential for a strong passing game is there. Ultimately, this game will come down to Panthers being able to control ball. The Bengals will come fast and hard. It’s key to give Newton time in the pocket and limit the turnovers. That game was awful. Let’s just get that out of the way to start with. The Panthers played a better team on a short week and got exposed. Nine straight quarters of dominance by the Panthers came to a screeching halt in Pittsburgh and took a little wind out of their sails. Carolina is still 6-3 and still technically has control over its own destiny. As bad as this loss was, it was still only one loss. That said, this team learned some hard truths yesterday and has a long way to go before they can be considered a contender again.We have ten days before the Panthers take the field again, this time against the Lions, and we will spend much of it discussing just how bad last night was. Let’s talk about Cam Newton, Christian McCaffrey, and the future of this offense. The rest we can file, for now Carolina Panthers T-Shirt , under the aged wisdom provided by Ron Rivera during last night’s presser,Cam Newton, under significant pressure all night, threw a pick-six and took five sacks. He still posted a 100.3 passer rating. One of those things is simply not like the other. Cam’s interception was one bad mistake in an otherwise exceptional night. The few plays were the offensive line blocked well enough for Cam to complete his drop backs were positive and often constituted scoring drives. The rest were impossible for anybody and Cam even turned a few of those into first downs.Something has to change on the offensive line. The Panthers went into Pittsburgh facing an absurdly low number of blitzes compared to the rest of the league. I’m honestly baffled that nobody thought to try a more blitz happy approach before given the relative inexperience and lack of successful history that are currently starting at left guard and left tackle. I’m similarly baffled that Norv Turner didn’t make a greater effort to provide more help than a clearly overmatched McCaffrey to pick up the Steelers’ blitzes. Turner must not have watched Super Bowl 50.To his credit, pass protection was the only part of McCaffrey’s game that wasn’t on fire last night. He was effective in the running game and the passing game as a quick outlet and a scoring threat for Newton.The offense, when it worked, went through Cam and McCaffrey and it looked good doing so. Whether it was due to a short week, an inability to actually protect against creative pass rush designs, or anything else Carolina Panthers Hats , the Panthers offensive line has only had one really bad game this season. We need to see them fail like this at least once more before we can say the sky is falling. Maybe Matt Kalil is once again finally healthy and ready to contribute. Maybe Amini Silatolu is actually the answer after all this time. Stranger things have happened.Right now, the Panthers know they have problems. They have the time to figure out how to address those problems. They might even have the personnel. It is too early to count this offense out given the way Cam and McCaffrey are playing. The defense might be another story, but the offense still has the potential to hang with most of the league. They aren’t functioning on the level of the Saints, either, but there is still a chance the Panthers get there.The offense is going to be the story of the season and the defense is going to be on the field sometimes. It’s almost impossible to beat a good team in the NFL anymore without surrendering 30+ points. The Steelers’ 52 was excessive, to be sure, but that total likely would have been lower if the Panthers had been able to stay on the field and score more often than they did.The Steelers and the Panthers combined last night for one more point (73) than the Patriots and the Eagles did in the Super Bowl to end last season (72). The most important thing in this league is the ability to score points. The Panthers have the skill position players to do that so long as Newton can be protected for even a second. I’m still excited to see what they can do about that.