Winners and losers from Carolina's blowout loss to Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, and the Chicago Bears

Matt Alquiza | Oct 6, 2024

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Carolina Panthers

Things went sideways in a hurry for the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon.

After both teams punted, a 38-yard Chuba Hubbard touchdown put the Panthers ahead briefly 7-0, but Carolina's offense was stymied by a lights-out Bears unit from there. Chicago's lead ballooned to 30-7 near the end of the third quarter, a mass destruction that wiped away much of the promise that the Carolina Panthers had shown in recent weeks. Let's get into some winners and losers from the afternoon.

Winners

Caleb Williams, D'Andre Swift, and DJ Moore

The Bears' triplets had their way with Carolina's patchwork defense. Williams and Moore specifically, two offensive weapons that have obvious history with the Panthers, had banner afternoons. The Bears QB1 and WR1 combo connected five times for 105 yards and two scores, rubbing dirt in the franchise that made the conscious decision to choose Bryce Young over them. Swift chipped in with 119 all-purpose yards and a score as Carolina'a rushing defense was hapless in their attempts to bring him down.

Chuba Hubabrd

Hubbard is the only offense Panther that had a day worth discussing.

His long touchdown to open the scoring was the offense's lone bright spot, but even in a game that wasn't close for the majority, Hubbard still racked up 93 yards on the ground. His decisiveness in the backfield is the perfect match for Carolina's road grating offensive line, but when the defense fails to get stops, the offense can't continue to lean on the run. Canales committed to being "stubborn" when it comes to running the ball, but his defense makes that an impossibility.

A late game fumble put a damper on Hubbard's big day, but it shouldn't take away from what was an otherwise impressive performance.

Trevin Wallace

Wallace's debut was as-advertised. The rookie linebacker racked up 15 tackles, including two important ones on back-to-back third and fourth downs before halftime. The Panthers need a defensive leader to step up as Shaq Thompson reaches the twilight of his career, and Wallace is posied to become that.

Jalen Coker

Have a day, rook. Coker hauled in his first NFL catch near the end of the first half, and continued to produce in mop up duty. The Holy Cross product led the team in receiving in the afternoon, flashing the skills that made him the leagues' most highly sought after undrafted free agent. Coker's success is a win for all of the draft sickos out there.

Losers

Injured players

Jadeveon Clowney, Tommy Tremble, DJ Johnson, and other Panthers left Saturday's game injured. A depleted defense continues to take hits week-after-week, making it impossible for Ejiro Evero to prove his worth as a defensive coordinator.

Front seven

The Panthers front seven were futile in slowing down the Bears rushing attack. D'Andre Swift and co. were facing massive scrutiny in the early season as Chicago's offense struggled to move the ball on the ground. The Bears averaged over four yards per carry on the afternoon, breaking tackle after tackle as the ground the Carolina defense to a pulp.

Andy Dalton

Dalton's magic carpet ride came crashing down in the Windy City. One of the NFL's best early-season stories failed to move the ball in Chicago. Dalton finished 18/28 for 136 yards and an interception, failing to even halve the production he put up against Vegas and Cincinnati. His magnet-like connection with Diontae Johnson failed to flash, and he only targeted promising rookie Xavier Legette once all afternoon. Credit needs to go to the Bears defense, as they had Dalton in a blender from the opening snap. Chicago's defensive unit is one of the league's strongest, and they gnashed their teeth all afternoon.

Dalton was benched for Bryce Young when the game was out of hand, a glancing blow to finish off an afternoon that left him bruised and battered.

Offensive weaponry

Where were Johnson, Legette, and Jonathan Mingo? The Bears defense was masterful in slowing down the Panthers ascendant offense. Dave Canales' attempts to scheme open his weapons were futile, and it showed. This afternoon in Chicago was reminiscent of the Frank Reich-era that was marked by offensive struggles. Things had begun to look so good when Carolina had the ball on offense. What happened? The film will tell the story later in the week, but at first glance, nothing went right for the Panthers offense.