"John Fox was hoping Jimmy Clausen would provide the Carolina Panthers offense with a spark. Instead, he got more of the same – a lame, burned-out offense seemingly incapable of scoring points and hanging on to the football. Clausen struggled in his NFL starting debut. He had a hand in three of Carolina's four turnovers Sunday as the Panthers lost 20-7 to the Cincinnati Bengals at Bank of America Stadium. "When we made the change a week ago, I did mention that I didn't think it was one guy," said Fox. "I'm not sure I think differently after today." Clausen entered the locker room at halftime with an almost impossible QB efficiency rating of 0.0, completing just 1 of 4 passes for 14 yards with an interception and a fumbled snap. Clausen led one touchdown drive in the second half -- they went 75 yards in eight plays -- to get the Panthers to within 10-7, but a fumbled exchange between he and Mike Goodson and another fumble in the fourth quarter by the normally reliable Jonathan Stewart sealed Carolina's fate. The defense also dropped four potential interceptions, two by linebacker James Anderson and another by cornerback Chris Gamble that would have been a sure six points. It's the second straight season the Panthers have started 0-3 under Fox, and the frustrations are beginning to show. During and after the game a frustrated Smith was seen and heard barking at Clausen. Smith was angry over not catching a pass until the fourth quarter – he finished with three catches for 22 yards – and not being the focus of Clausen's attention. In the locker room after the game, Smith had less to say about the exchange. "I'm going to run the routes they call," Smith said. "Hopefully they are sufficient. If the ball comes I'll try to catch it and if it doesn't you can't catch air. I'm going to continue to do my job." In his postgame press conference Clausen was asked about what Smith said to him. "Smitty is a real competitor," said Clausen, who finished 16 of 33 for 188 yards for a QB rating of 53.6. "Those are the type of guys you want to have on your team and right by your side when you're in that foxhole. I'm trying to get Smitty the ball as many times as we can. He's our biggest playmaker on offense. It's tough sometimes trying to get him the ball when there are two guys double Steve. He's a fiery guy, kind of like myself. He's just being competitive, wanting the ball and trying to make plays." When asked how he reacted to Smith, Clausen said, "I'm going to listen to what he has to say and whatever he's saying, I'm going to try to do that. You want those guys on your team." Smith did say it's "not fair" to blame Clausen or Matt Moore for the team's struggles. "There are a lot of people involved in this thing," Smith said. "I think to try to blame two or three guys -- when there's eleven on the field -- there's the guy that calls the play, there is the guy that has to hear the play and recite the play, there are a lot of moving parts. So I don't feel it will be fair to blame Jimmy or blame myself. There's a lot that goes into it prior to today."" http://www.carolinagrowl.com/index....rove-in-20-7-loss-to-bengals&catid=1:articles
