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CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Tim Biakabutuka ran for a career-high 132 yards and two long touchdowns as the Carolina Panthers gave coach George Seifert his first victory in his return to the NFL with a 27-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Biakabutuka had a 62-yard touchdown run on Carolina's first play from scrimmage in the first quarter and added a 67-yard score in the third quarter. The two runs were the longest in franchise history. Steve Beuerlein completed 17-of-23 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown for Carolina (1-2), which won its first game since a 27-19 victory over St. Louis in Week 16 last season. Cincinnati's Jeff Blake, who suffered a strained right shoulder last week, was 24-of-43 for 251 yards and one interception. Cincinnati is off to an 0-3 start for the first time since losing the first eight games of the 1994 season. Biakabutuka bounced to the outside and ran up the right sideline for his first touchdown run less than four minutes into the game. Later in the quarter, safety Damien Richardson intercepted a pass by Blake and returned it 27 yards to the Carolina 49. The pickoff led to a 48-yard field goal by John Kasay and a 10-0 lead for the Panthers. Beuerlein completed four passes on Carolina's final possession of the first half, including a 33-yarder to Muhsin Muhammad to the Cincinnati 3, to set up a 21-yard field goal by Kasay with no time left in the half. Muhammad had eight catches for 117 yards on the day. Late in the third quarter, Biakabutuka made a great cutback on his second touchdown run. He swept to the left, but was cut off and decided to reverse his field. A tremendous block by Beurlein allowed Biakabutuka to reach the right sideline and run 67 yards for the score. "The second run happened so quick," said Biakabutka, who carried the ball only eight times. "No one really touched me. Steve (Beuerlein) made a great block. He made it happen. On the first run, the safety came up and I was able to bounce it outside. It was a great game, but now I have to get ready for next week. This isn't an individual sport. My job is to win games, not about stats." A first-round draft pick in 1996, Biakabutuka suffered a knee injury in his rookie season and played in only 12 games over his first two seasons. He rushed for 427 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games last season. Beuerlein added a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Wesley Walls early in the fourth quarter, allowing Walls to surpass Mark Carrier as Carolina's all-time franchise leader with 177 catches. Cincinnati's only points of the game came on a 39-yard field goal by Doug Pelfrey which cut Carolina's lead to 13-3 with 5:57 left in the third quarter. But it was a nightmarish day for Pelfrey, who missed field goals of 47, 37 and 30 yards. "You can't miss. He (Pelfrey) missed three field goals," Cincinnati coach Bruce Coslet said. "One was a high snap, but you have to make those. We won the time of possession, but they beat the heck out of us. That's why you keep score. "I know we have a lot of guys trying hard. I wish I knew (what's wrong). It's something different each game. I can't explain the field goal situation. I'm concerned with everything. Our run defense was excellent, but then they got out of the box twice." Cincinnati had more first downs than Carolina (20-13) and outgained the Panthers, 372-343, but it was the Bengals' inability to score in the red zone which proved to be the difference. "We really needed to punch it in when we were in the red zone," Blake said. "We moved the ball the whole game. We had opportunities to kick field goals. It's a team thing. We're very frustrated and that's all I have to say." The Bengals lost running back Ki-Jana Carter after he suffered a dislocated right kneecap in the first quarter, the latest in an injury-plagued career for the former top overall pick.
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