Sports

Cincinnati Bengals Fans Completely Took Over Carolina Panthers’ Stadium And Made It A Home Game

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Bengals Fans Carolina Panthers Takeover
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Andy Dalton made his fourth-career start against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday and was greeted by a large contingency of visiting fans that significantly outnumbered the Carolina Panthers. Orange and black took over Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte to the extent that it was practically a home game.

It was not even close and there are a lot of factors at play that made the crowd look the way it did.

First and foremost, western North Carolina was hit hard by Hurricane Helene. Nearby cities and towns like Asheville, Boone and Blowing Rock were impacted by catastrophic flooding and high winds. A large portion of the region remains without power and/or water. The impact of this storm will be felt for years.

This all goes to say that there are bigger priorities than football in the Old North State at the moment.

And to that point, the Panthers are the worst team in the NFL by a large margin so getting to the game was even less important than it might be if they were winning. Even the fans who were not as impacted by Helene did not see a need to support such an awful organization. They also stayed home.

On the flip side of this conversation, Bengals fans are known to travel well. A flight from Cincinnati to Charlotte is approximately 90 minutes and tickets — both for the plane and for the game — are pretty cheap.

With all of that in mind, it is easy to understand how the Who Dey takeover came to exist.

Panthers fans were outnumbered at home!

Bengals fans brought their tailgate on the road. They were everywhere.

Bank of America Stadium was covered in orange by the time kickoff rolled around.

All things considered, it was a pretty decent sized crowd. But most of the fans in attendance were in support of the visitors.

There was, without a doubt, more Cincinnati fans than Carolina fans in the stands.

It was not particularly close.

The Bengals famously pushed Dalton out of the door so they could draft Joe Burrow. Even though there was some bad blood between the organization and its former quarterback on his way out, the fans made sure to let him know that he is still appreciated in Ohio.

This could not get much more embarrassing for the Panthers. Not only are they a terrible team, the visiting fanbase took over their stadium and claimed their quarterback as their own. Brutal.