For the foreseeable future, the Carolina Panthers – Chicago Bears matchup will be a game circled on calendars. No matter what either team’s record is, the huge trade between the two prior to the 2023 NFL Draft will undoubtedly link the two. The Bears used the No. 1 pick obtained from the Panthers to draft Caleb Williams. Throw in DJ Moore – the Panthers WR1 at the time of the trade – and the players acquired by the other draft compensation with the fact that Carolina and Bryce Young have struggled and there’s your storyline. After a quarterback change two weeks into the season, the Panthers seemed to be in the middle of an offensive resurgence with Andy Dalton but they would be tested against a Chicago defense that came into Week Five ranked in the top ten in a few categories.
Defense has been a weakness with a rash of injuries leaving the Panthers without starters Derrick Brown and Shaq Thompson – both now out for the season. Linebacker Josey Jewell was also out this week with a hamstring/groin issue. Unluckily for the Panthers, Chicago found their stride in the run game just in time to exploit their weakness.
Carolina struck first with a 38 yard touchdown run by Chuba Hubbard but the bright spots were very few and very far between after that. Chicago answered with a 34-yard touchdown reception to none other than DJ Moore as the first quarter ended in a tie. The Bears proceeded to attack the Achilles heel that is the Panthers run defense and racked up three more touchdowns in second quarter to go into halftime with a 27-7 lead. Moore put an exclamation on his “revenge game” with a 30-yard touchdown reception with less than a minute before the intermission. However, Dalton connected with rookie receiver Jalen Coker for a 31 yard pass play to put the Panthers in field goal range with less than five seconds left but Eddy Pineiro’s 45 yard attempt sailed wide left.
The two teams swapped field goals and the score sat at 30-10 going into the final period. Â On their first possession of the fourth quarter, Hubbard fumbled and the Bears recovered leading to a touchdown and the final points of the game. With the contest out of reach, Bryce Young entered at quarterback and led the Panthers down to the 8 yard line before getting sacked and turning the ball over on downs. Carolina potentially lost more than the game as a slew of starters went down throughout the game, including center Austin Corbett. Carolina returns home to host a hard-charging Atlanta Falcons team in their second NFC South game of the season.
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