Grading the Carolina Panthers in Week 6 loss to Chicago Bears
After winning three games in a row, Carolina dropped one Sunday to the Bears.
The Panthers, who entered Sunday’s game with sixth-worst red zone offense, struggled against the league’s No. 1-ranked red zone offense. Carolina was 1 of 3 in red zone touchdown opportunities and lost to the Bears 23-16.
Here is this week’s report card:
Passing offense
D: There were some good moments for Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in Sunday’s game against the Bears, including his 39-yard pass to Robby Anderson in the third quarter.
Then there were some not-so-great moments, like the interception he threw on the Panthers’ first possession, which was returned to the Panthers 9-yard line. The Bears (5-1) turned that into seven points and took an early 7-0 lead. And Bridgewater’s interception on the Panthers’ last drive was thrown right into coverage.
Bridgewater, who entered Sunday’s game with the highest completion percentage (73.4%) among all NFL quarterbacks, struggled to find open receivers. Oftentimes that ended in coverage sacks. He was sacked four times Sunday, after not being sacked at all in Weeks 4 and 5.
Wide receiver DJ Moore had a good game. He caught five passes for 93 yards, while Anderson was bottled up for much of the game.
But Bridgewater had his lowest pass percentage of the season. He completed 16-of-29 passes (55.2%) for a season-low 216 yards, and two interceptions.
Rushing offense
D-plus: Running back Mike Davis, facing his former team, didn’t have his best game. He had 52 yards rushing on 18 carries and a touchdown, but he also had his first fumble of the season. The fumble was negated by a Jeremy Chinn interception on the Bears’ next possession.
Davis did make up for it with a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
He was also bothered some by an ankle injury. That gave backup running back Trenton Cannon a chance. He finished with 12 yards on three carries.
Bridgewater had a few scrambles and one designed rush. He finished with 48 yards on eight carries.
Passing defense
B-minus: The Panthers (3-3) were good, but not great, against the pass. Bears quarterback Nick Foles on occasion found open receivers. He connected with tight end Cole Kmet on an 11-yard touchdown in the first quarter. But after that, he didn’t have many big plays.
Chinn had an interception in the third quarter. While the Panthers didn’t have any sacks, defensive end Brian Burns pressured Foles and made him rush on some of his throws.
Foles finished with 198 yards passing. He completed 23-of-39 passes with a touchdown and an interception.
Rushing defense
B: Chicago entered the game with one of the worst rushing offenses in the NFL. The Panthers didn’t allow them to do much Sunday. Bears running back David Montgomery finished with 58 yards on 19 rushes.
The Panthers were without Kawann Short, one of their best run stoppers. Backup defensive tackle Zach Kerr filled in well. Carolina got a couple of key stops late in the fourth quarter as they tried to engineer a comeback.
Special teams
C: Panthers kicker Joey Slye was 3 of 4 on field-goal attempts Sunday. But the miss, a 54-yard attempt, was an important one. The field goal would have cut the Bears’ lead to four points with 6:19 left in the third quarter. But the miss gave the Bears great field position for their next possession. Chicago scored on the drive four minutes later to take a 20-6 lead.
Coaching
C-minus: Carolina committed eight penalties for 69 yards. The penalties were too much, and the game resulted in a loss.
The Panthers coaching staff made a few interesting decisions, such as going for it on fourth-and-3 from the Bears’ 6-yard line in the second quarter. After converting, they decided a few plays later to not go for it on fourth-and-2.
Head coach Matt Rhule said he didn’t go for it on fourth-and-2 because he didn’t feel the offense was playing well at the time. The Panthers kicked a 20-yard field goal instead and cut the Bears lead to 10-6.
A touchdown could have tied the game.
This story was originally published October 18, 2020 at 4:16 PM.
