By The Associated Press, Louis Fernandez, WRAL Sports

36-10 Bears, 4Q/4:26 remaining

The Bears add another score, with Roschon Johnson finding the end zone again. After the play, there was a scuffle between both teams, which resulted in two players being disqualified, one for both teams. On the Panthers side, it was cornerback Jaycee Horn. The two-point conversion was no good.

30-10 Bears, 3Q/2:10 remaining

For the first time since the first quater, Carolina gets on the board. The Panthers go 61 yards on 10 plays. The drive stalls on the Chicago 9-yard line and the team is forced to settle for a 27-yard Eddy Pineiro field goal.

30-7 Bears, 3Q/6:25 remaining

After forcing a three-and-out on Chicago’s first drive, the Panthers try to take a shot down the field, but Andy Dalton’s deep pass to Jonathan Mingo is intercepted. The Bears go 11 plays, 50 yards but come away with just a field goal.

Halftime: Bears lead Panthers 27-7

Chicago is taking advantage of just about every mistake Carolina makes on offense and on defense. The Panthers go for it on fourth and three from the Chicago 37-yard line, but fail to get the first down. With :55 seconds left in the first half, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams engineers a 5-play, 62-yard drive that takes up just 31 seconds and finishes with DJ Moore’s second touchdown of the day. Williams is 11/15 for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns while Moore has 3 catches for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton and the offense was able to move the ball from their own 35-yard line to the Chicago 27-yard line, but Eddy Pineiro’s 45-yard field goal drifted wide left.

Chicago will get the ball when the second half continues.

21-7 Bears, 2Q/2:14 remaining

Bears running back D’Andre Swift is slicing up the Panthers. He takes his first carry after the fumble 42 yards, getting stopped just short of the goal line. Two plays later, he scores to give the Bears a two-possession lead. He has 67 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards in the first half.

14-7 Bears, 2Q/2:49 remaining

On a third and long, Andy Dalton finds tight end Tommy Tremble, who takes a hard hit and fumbles. Chicago recovers. Tremble appeared to be injured on the play.

14-7 Bears, 2Q/4:18 remaining

The Panthers have allowed two touchdowns early, but the defense is making flash plays. Rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace has been all over the field and makes a huge stop on fourth and one to force a turnover on downs in Panthers territory. He leads Carolina with 9 tackles in the first half.

14-7 Bears, 2Q/10:44 remaining

The Bears have found a groove on offense. This time it’s a 13-play, 80 yard drive, capped off with a Roschon Johnson rushing touchdown from the 1-yard line.

7-7, 1Q/5:44 remaining

You’d expect him to make plays, especially against his former team. The Chicago Bears go 7 plays and 70 yards, capped with a 34-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver and former Carolina Panther DJ Moore. There appeared to be miscommunication in the secondary, with Moore coming open on a deep crossing route. It was the Bears first touchdown in the first quarter so far this season.

7-0 Panthers, 1Q/8:54 remaining

On its second possession of the day, running back Chubba Hubbard goes to work. After getting good starting field position, Hubbard takes a first down carry 38 yards to the house to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead early in the game. Hubbard has three touchdowns in the past three games. He’s ran for 100 yards in back-to-back games.

0-0, 1Q/11:39 remaining

Both offenses start slow in this one, but a positive sign from the Carolina defense. On third and seven, Charles Harris comes up with a sack on Caleb Williams. It’s the linebacker’s first sack of the season.

Preview

The Carolina Panthers head to Chicago to face the Bears in a road conference matchup. Two teams that destinies have been intertwined over the past two seasons, ever since the franchises agreed to a trade for the No. 1 overall pick in 2023. The trade sent wide receiver DJ Moore to Chicago and the pick that would ultimately become the No. 1 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft quarterback Caleb Williams.

Panthers player to watch

WR Xavier Legette. With Adam Thielen sidelined with a hamstring injury last week, rookie Xavier Legette stepped up with six catches for 66 yards and his first touchdown, outperforming second-year wideout Jonathan Mingo. Legette still looks a little unsure of himself on some routes and had two drops versus the Bengals, but he also showed glimpses of his potential and why the Panthers drafted him with the last pick in the first round.

Bears player to watch

QB Caleb Williams. The Bears showed the efficiency and explosiveness last week that general manager Ryan Poles envisioned when he overhauled the offense in the offseason. Chicago scored on four straight possessions, including three touchdowns. Williams completed 17 of 23 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown while posting a 106.6 rating that’s his best one yet.

Key matchup

Bears WR DJ Moore against Carolina’s secondary. The Bears need Moore and Williams to get in sync at some point, and this wouldn’t be a bad week to do it. After all, Moore set a career high with 1,364 yards last season after getting traded from Carolina to Chicago. He’s well off that pace so far, with just 189 yards through four games. Moore caught five passes for 58 yards last year against the Panthers.

Key injuries

The Panthers lost starting inside LBs Shaq Thompson and Josey Jewell to injuries on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, meaning they will start Trevin Wallace and Claudin Cherelus, who have a combined six NFL tackles between them. Look for the Bears to try to exploit that inexperience in the running game. … G Damien Lewis (elbow) is expected to return this week after missing last week’s game. … The Bears could be without G Teven Jenkins (bruised ribs), who left last week’s game after he was hurt while blocking. … TE Cole Kmet (knee) was limited in practice on Wednesday.

Series notes

The Panthers’ lone win in Chicago came during the divisional round of the 2005 playoffs (29-21) when WR Steve Smith set franchise playoff records, hauling in 12 receptions for 218 yards and two touchdowns. … The Bears have won three straight and six of the past seven games against the Panthers.

Stats and stuff

QB Andy Dalton has given Carolina’s offense a needed spark since taking over for the benched Bryce Young two weeks ago. The Panthers averaged just 13.9 points and 294.4 yards per game last season, but in two games under Dalton they’ve averaged 30 points and 406 yards. … RB Chuba Hubbard has run for a combined 218 yards over the past two weeks to maintain the starting job. … Carolina isn’t getting much production from its tight ends, with Tommy Tremble and Ja’Tavion Sanders combining for just 11 receptions for 80 yards this season. Help is on the way as Ian Thomas returned to practice this week from injured reserve and is expected to play. … The Panthers have allowed nine passing touchdowns this season. … The Bears have won seven straight at Soldier Field, the longest current home winning streak in the NFL. It’s their best streak at home since they won 10 straight starting in the 2005 season and running into 2006. … Chicago had a season-high 131 yards rushing last week, with D’Andre Swift running for 93. He also had 72 yards receiving. … Rookie WR Rome Odunze went from having six receptions for 112 yards and a TD in a loss at Indianapolis two weeks ago to catching one pass for 10 yards against the Rams. … S Jaquan Brisker had a sack and a game-sealing interception last week.

Fantasy tip

WR Diontae Johnson is the clear No. 1 option in the Panthers’ offense. Over the past two weeks since the team made a change at quarterback, Johnson has been targeted 27 times and has 15 catches for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

Source: wralsportsfan.com