BENGALS at PANTHERS

1 p.m., Panthers by 3, 42 ½

HANK’S HONEYS: RB Joe Mixon, who has accounted for a third of the Bengals’ surprising offense (34 points each week), is out following arthroscopic knee surgery and that should cool things off for the Cincy attack. Gio Bernard is a capable backup but not nearly the same workhorse. That – and a good Carolina front - will put the pressure on Andy Dalton’s arm and the erratic QB might easily slip back into his mistake mode. Bengals’ run defense has been stellar but hasn’t faced anything close to the Christian McCaffrey/Cam Newton combination. The Panthers are 6-0 SU in their last half dozen games at home with an average victory margin of 8.6 ppg.

IF I WERE A BETTING MAN: Panthers and the under.