CHARLOTTE —The Panthers are back home this weekend, ready to take on the Bengals. The Panthers got their first win last week, making them 1-2, welcoming 0-3 Cincinnati. It'll be the fourth time quarterback Andy Dalton will face his former team as a starter. He's gone 2-1 in previous games. The chance to go 2-2 this weekend, for both Dalton against the Bengals and the Panthers as a whole, could help set Carolina up well for the second quadrant of the season.

"I know we're heading in the right direction as the communication gets clearer and louder. That's what Friday is all about," Dave Canales said following the last practice of the week.

The Panthers are 3-3-1 all-time against the Bengals. Carolina is 3-1 at home and 0-2-1 on the road at Cincinnati. The Bengals are the only team that the Panthers have ever tied in franchise history.

With the next matchup on deck, here are five things to watch during the game.

A chance for the young guns

The Panthers wide receiving corps took a different look this week, as Adam Thielen (hamstring) was put in injured reserve. That means the veteran pass catcher will be out for at least four weeks. Andy Dalton should still have Diontae Johnson, however he was limited on Friday with a groin and is technically considered questionable.

With Thielen out, the Panthers will turn to rookies Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker, the latter of whom was signed from the practice squad this week. Both Legette and Coker have the advantage of having spent most of the offseason working with the twos, and therefore practicing with Dalton, establishing some chemistry.

It paid off against the Raiders, as Legette hauled in two passes for 42 yards.

Coker has really impressed coaches of late as a member of the scout team, simply because he's holding his own against the first-team defense.

"He's done a phenomenal job," offensive coordinator Brad Idzik said. "He's done a phenomenal job going against some of their best guys (on defense), and just playing aggressive and playing confident.

"So, that's something you'd love to see in live action. Sometimes in training camp, it's a little bit limited. You're trying to get reps to certain people, some of the vets. And then, the season rolls around, and he gets all these reps against the one defense, which is just phenomenal work for those guys. And he's done a good job of just playing aggressive and playing confident."

Team, not record

The Bengals coming to town winless was not on anyone's Bingo card. The Joe Burrow-led squad appeared in a Super Bowl in 2021, and the AFC Championship the year after. Burrow missed the final seven games last season with a wrist injury, as the Bengals missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record, but returned healthy ahead of this year.

Despite the 0-3 record, linebacker Shaq Thompson reminds everyone that when it comes to the Bengals, the roster is more important than the results.

"We've got to understand we're not playing the record," Thompson said. "We're not playing the record, we're playing the Bengals, who have high-power weapons wherever you look at from the running back, the tight ends, the wide receivers, offensive line, to their defense. So, it's like we're not playing the record. We're playing the team."

The Bengals offense, despite not winning a game yet, have been able to move the ball, scoring on 12 of their 16 drives over the last two games.

"They're going to come out and do what they got to do, run the ball, throw the ball," Thompson continued. "But at the end of the day, we got to handle our business. We got to play our brand of football, tough physical and we got to eliminate the big plays and explosive plays and do better in the run game."

Stopping Joe Cool from heating up

A huge part of the reason the Panthers are remembering to focus on the team and not the record, is because that team includes Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase. The duo, who started together at LSU and have carried their connection to the NFL, have linked up for 16 receptions on 18 targets, 215 yards and two touchdowns through the first three games. Burrow's quarterback rating when targeting Chase is 153.5, just 4.8 points shy of perfect.

Ergo, a key to stopping Burrow is stopping Chase.

Easier said than done, but Jaycee Horn doesn't want he or other corners to get to into the weeds of what should be their job each week.

"You just play football; you line up compete and you want to be on the winning side of it," Horn said. "You just got to go out there and compete, you know, this league is filled with great receivers. He one of them, he's in the upper echelon of the receiver's group in this league. I feel like you just got to go out there and compete to the highest of your ability."

Helping on the backend with Chase, Tee Higgins and others, will be Nick Scott, stepping in for Jordan Fuller (hamstring) who was placed on injured reserve this week. Rookie Demani Richardson could also see some action on defense.

Clowney vs. Mims?

The Bengals will arrive on Sunday without their veteran tackle, Trent Brown. In his place, rookie Amarius Mims will be getting his first start. After a pectoral strain in training camp, Monday night's matchup in Week 3 was actually Mims first playing time at all this season.

According to Next Gen Stats, Mims had 25 pass blocking snaps after coming in for the injured Brown. He gave up a sack and a pressure during that time, but Burrow voiced his support this week for the first round (No. 18 overall) pick.

"I have a lot of confidence in him," Burrow told reporters this week of Mims. "He had a good camp, he's a smart player, he's going to continue to get better and better. So, I'm excited to play with him. Excited to watch him play. He's going to be a good one, I think."

With or without Brown, Panthers defensive lineman Nick Thurman feels sure the Bengals will still lean on their line.

"That's the strength of their offense and, you know, just watching the game from (Monday) night, you know, offensively, they were clicking on all cylinders, just the fact that they didn't have the ball last."

Still, with Mims taking over the tackle duties, the Panthers have an opportunity to matchup the rookie with a veteran pass rusher in Jadeveon Clowney. There will also be chances for DJ Johnson, who is continuing to play into his own on the edge, and Charles Harris, the latter of whom had three tackles and a stuff last week versus the Raiders.

Regardless of who lines up where, and regardless of who the Bengals have on the other side of the line, Canales is hammering home one point.

"Hopefully it's an opportunity for our guys," Canales began, "but again, our focus is on executing our schemes, and, you know, making sure that we're playing with high effort and that we're playing within our system. And so, we kind of just keep the focus on us."

Shuffling along the line

The Panthers offensive line could see some change at guard this week. Left guard Damien Lewis has been ruled out for Sunday with an elbow injury. Additionally, right guard Robert Hunt left Friday's practice early with a hip concern. He is considered questionable, although Canales is relieved they caught it early.

"They took him in just to get ahead of it," Canales explained after practice. "We're going to have to take that day by day, get him back in tomorrow and also see where he's at and we'll be making that decision as the next couple of days play out."

In Lewis' place will be Chandler Zavala, who started seven games for the Panthers last season. If Hunt ends up not being able to play, the unit will turn to Brady Christensen, who has started 24 games in his four years with Carolina.

"Excited about an opportunity for these guys, if it comes up for both of them; we know Chandler's going to have to play for Damien because he'd be out this week," Canales said. "And so I'm just really excited to see those guys who have been working so hard, giving us different flexibility and some of the heavy tight end things that they've been able to do for us the last couple of weeks, but just let your work pay off, you know, and the focus and the hard work those guys have put in, I'm really excited about both of them having an opportunity, if Brady gets a chance."

Canales assured the game plan would not change at all despite any different looks at the guard position. The offensive line through the first three weeks graded out with the second best pressure rate in the NFL (according to Next Gen Stats).

Regardless of who is starting on Sunday, they will be asked to create lanes against a defense that bursts into the backfield for contact often. If there are areas of grass provided though, Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders have the chance to pick up yards after contact.

According to Next Gen, the Bengals have contacted rushers behind the line of scrimmage on inside runs at the 4th-highest rate in the NFL (50.0%) but have allowed the 2nd-most yards after contact on such runs (175) this season.