The Chicago Bears look to put together their first two-game winning streak of the season Sunday at Soldier Field when they take on the Carolina Panthers.
The Bears (2-2) are coming off a 24-18 victory against the Los Angeles Rams, which extended their home winning streak to seven games dating to last year. The Panthers’ only victory thus far was a 36-22 road win against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3.
As kickoff approaches, here’s our snapshot look at the game.
Players in the spotlight
Caleb Williams and Andy Dalton
This week has been the perfect time to revisit the Bears’ March 2023 trade that sent the No. 1 pick to the Panthers in exchange for wide receiver DJ Moore, two first-round picks and two second-round picks. (A fourth-round pick came later from another Bears trade.)
The centerpieces of the returns for both teams are of course the quarterbacks. The Panthers selected Bryce Young at No. 1 in 2023. The Bears waited a year, obtained the No. 1 pick in 2024 thanks to the Panthers’ 2-15 record and drafted Caleb Williams.
But as the teams meet Sunday, only one of those quarterbacks will be playing — Williams. Young, whom the Bears bypassed to have another season with Justin Fields in 2023, was benched after 18 starts in favor of veteran Andy Dalton. Young completed 55.4% of his passes for 245 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions in two starts this year.
So Dalton, the 14-year NFL veteran who made six starts for the Bears in 2021, will face his onetime team.
“Really just savvy,” cornerback Jaylon Johnson said of Dalton. “He’s seen a lot of coverages. He’s seen a lot of blitzes. Kind of like (Rams quarterback Matthew) Stafford in a way where he’s going to be able to pick up some things. So we’ve got to do a good job disguising. We’ve got to get hits and pressure, making him uncomfortable in the pocket.
“A lot of the quarterbacks, they get pressure in the face, they kind of tend to throw some bad throws, make some bad decisions. So for us in the secondary, we’ve got to be where we’re supposed to be and the front has got to get after him.”
Meanwhile, Williams looks for continued improvement in his fifth start. While he threw for only 157 yards against the Rams, the Bears were pleased with his turnover-free outing and willingness to utilize the underneath passing game.
“Caleb’s done a nice job of seeing what the defense presents and taking what the play gives him,” offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said. “Moving forward it’s about not pressing to find big plays, not pressing to find explosives but letting them occur within the context of what the defense is showing each individual snap. … And then when those shots are there, just keep doing a good job of being in rhythm.”
Pressing question
Will Chuba Hubbard get another 100-yard outing?
Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington opened his Thursday news conference by noting the “star” of the Panthers offense is the offensive line and running back Chuba Hubbard.
Hubbard topped 100 rushing yards in each of the last two games as the Panthers revived their offense under Dalton against the Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals.
“He’s a downhill player,” Washington said. “Tremendous contact balance, and so you see this young man breaking tackles. You see a lot of yards after contact. It puts the onus on us to be very good with our tackling and our gap control. The other thing about this young man is he will find the void in a run defense. And it could be as a cutback runner, it could be at the point of attack. If there’s a void, he’s going to find it.”
A Bears defense that has been in the top 10 in many areas hasn’t fared as well against the run. They’ve given up 121 rushing yards per game and 4.52 per play, both ranked 19th.
“The premise of our run defense is single-gap control,” Washington said. “We’re not a two-gap system. That’s a simplistic way of looking at it, but it really comes down to that. Control your area. It’s easier said than done, especially when you have a motivated blocker trying to move you off that specific area. And it comes down to just — we have to win against that situation, our gap, that person that’s trying to block us.”
Keep an eye on …
DJ Moore
The Bears continue their run of playing against some of the league’s worst defensive teams, this time facing an injury-plagued Panthers unit that gives up 358 yards per game (27th) and 5.77 yards per play (26th). Defensive lineman Derrick Brown (knee) and linebacker Shaq Thompson (Achilles) are out for the season, and linebacker Josey Jewell (hamstring/groin) has been ruled out for the game.
Like in Week 4, the Bears again could rely on running back D’Andre Swift, who had 93 rushing yards against the Rams.
But everyone is watching to see when Williams’ connection with wide receiver DJ Moore will break open. Moore, who signed a $110 million extension in the offseason, is averaging 47.3 receiving yards per game.
Williams and Moore connected for a 9-yard touchdown pass against the Rams. But there also have been notable plays when Moore and Williams haven’t been on the same page, including what should have been a second-quarter touchdown Sunday.
Waldron said the Bears know “good things happen when DJ has the ball in his hands,” and Williams and Moore have been working on their communication to make sure that happens more often.
“Every great player should want the ball every snap,” Waldron said. “That’s part of being at that level, and we want the best for him every single snap. So some near misses so far this year is just the communication part, talking through things. There’s always going to be some unique looks that present themselves on individual plays. Those are always great to bank those reps because it might come up this week, it might come up Week 17. You never know when the next chance at that can occur.”
Return opportunities?
While punter Tory Taylor — the NFC special teams player of the week — has been getting a lot of attention, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower expects there could be a different big-play opportunity for one of his units against the Panthers.
“Heavy kick and cover team,” Hightower said. “We’ve seen that on tape, so we know for a fact there are going to be kickoff return opportunities.”
Bears returner DeAndre Carter has had five kickoff returns for 170 yards this season, but he has battled a ribs injury this week. The Bears also can utilize running back Khalil Herbert on kickoff returns.
Meanwhile, the Panthers lead the league with 92 kickoff return yards per game. But that total was skewed by a first game in which they had nine returns — eight from Raheem Blackshear — for 232 yards. They didn’t have any against the Bengals.
Under the new kickoff rules, returns are up a bit, from a 17% return rate through four games in 2023 to 29% now, Hightower said.
Injury report
The Bears declared out defensive tackle Zacch Pickens (groin) and cornerback Terell Smith (hip).
Left guard Teven Jenkins and wide receiver DeAndre Carter are questionable as they both recover from bruised ribs. They were limited Thursday and Friday, and coach Matt Eberflus said he thought they were progressing well.
“It’s just bruised and just pain tolerance, torque and moving,” Eberflus said. “But we’ll see where it goes.”
Along with Thompson and Jewell, the Panthers also ruled out center Andrew Raym (concussion).
They listed outside linebacker Charles Harris (shoulder), guard Robert Hunt (hip), defensive tackle Shy Tuttle (foot), tight end Ian Thomas (calf), cornerback Dane Jackson (hamstring) and wide receiver Jalen Coker (foot) as questionable.
Predictions
Brad Biggs (3-1)
The Bears are 8-3 all time against the Panthers and have won six of the last seven meetings, with Justin Fields, Nick Foles, Mitch Trubisky (in a game he was 4-of-7 passing), Jay Cutler (two wins) and Todd Collins (6-of-17 passing for 32 yards and four interceptions) starting at QB. This figures to be Caleb Williams’ first victory against a Panthers team that has been rejuvenated a little with former Bears quarterback Andy Dalton replacing Bryce Young. Dalton and the Panthers looked solid on offense against the Las Vegas Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals, two teams with struggling defenses that don’t measure up to the Bears. Plus, the Panthers defense has been hit hard by injuries.
Bears 27, Panthers 13
Colleen Kane (3-1)
I don’t know that this should be written off as an easy win considering the Panthers have put up 812 yards and 60 points the last two weeks behind QB Andy Dalton. Yes, the Bears should win. But their defense has to clamp down against Chuba Hubbard and put pressure on Dalton. And the offense has to continue to make strides after riding D’Andre Swift to the win against the Rams. The Panthers are dealing with far more serious injuries than the Bears, and the Bears have fared well with home-field advantage. That should make for a nice sendoff to their London trip.
Bears 26, Panthers 21
Dan Wiederer (2-2)
There’s no such thing as a layup in this league. But this matchup qualifies as a loosely contested 12-footer for the Bears, who are the superior team and need to play like it to make next week’s trip to London more enjoyable. Sure, the Panthers have been feistier since replacing quarterback Bryce Young with Andy Dalton two weeks ago. But the Bears have a strong enough defense to make life challenging for Dalton. Furthermore, the Panthers’ struggling defense is now injury-depleted also, offering an opening for Caleb Williams, D’Andre Swift and Co. to further the momentum they built last week. The Bears’ Soldier Field winning streak ticks up to eight.
Bears 23, Panthers 17
