Bears Fire on All Cylinders, Crush Panthers 36-10

It may have come against a lowly Carolina Panthers team, but the Chicago Bears' convincing victory in Week 5 was the game fans have been waiting for . The defense held another team under 21 points — the 10th straight occurrence — but the story of Sunday was the Bears' offense. Yes, the BEARS offense . Caleb Williams threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns and the ground game added another 128 yards en route to a 36-10 thumping of the Panthers.

Slow Start

After the defense forced a quick three-and-out, the Soldier Field crowd was ready for the home team to start its anticipated pummeling of a struggling, injury-plagued Carolina team. The Panthers had other ideas. And it started in a manner fans feared most — a three-and-out punctuated by a sack on third and seven.

Far too often this season, Caleb Williams has taken a sack when the line couldn't hold up on a third and long. It almost felt like deja vu, even if it was only the first drive.

Forced to punt facing a fourth and 15 from their own 13-yard line, the Bears turned to rookie punter Tory Taylor to flip the field and put a slightly resurgent Carolina offense deep in its own territory. Panthers return man Raheem Blackshear caught the punt at his own 38 and returned it for 11 yards, giving his team excellent field position to start their second drive at their own 49.

The Bears defense forced Andy Dalton to settle for short passes as the Carolina offense took four plays to dink and dunk its way to a first and 10 at the Chicago 38. Chuba Hubbard then took a handoff toward the left, cut back to the middle of the field, and raced almost untouched to the goal line for a 7-0 Panthers lead.

This felt oddly familiar and unsettling for even the most positive Bears fan. But the script flipped from there on out.

Offensive Fireworks

Down 7-0 early, Caleb Williams and the Bears offense took the field at their own 30 ready to silence the critics and incite the Chicago faithful.

With a good balance of run and pass, mixing in some no-huddle, the Bears consistently kept ahead of the chains, attaining manageable second downs. Spoiler alert: the Bears didn't see a single third down on this drive.

Williams again went no-huddle, taking his seventh snap of the drive on second and six in a play-action fake from the Carolina 34, hitting a wide-open DJ Moore at the Panthers' 15. Moore tight-roped and tip-toed along the sideline, running untouched for the remaining 15 yards and a Bears touchdown, leading to a 7-7 tie.

Chicago's defense again stifled the Panthers' short passing game, forcing another punt after an accepted penalty (too many men on the field) and a sack shared by Gervon Dexter Sr. and DeMarcus Walker.

Williams engineered the Bears' second touchdown drive of the game highlighted by quick passing and downhill running.

D'Andre Swift carried the ball five times for 33 yards while Williams connected with Moore and Rome Odunze and carried twice for 11 yards, setting up the Bears with first and goal from the one.

After the teams traded penalties, Roschon Johnson finished the drive with a one-yard plunge to put the Bears up 14-7. They never looked back.

The Bears proceeded to have their best second quarter of the season, scoring second more times, the first following a forced fumble by safety Jaquan Brisker.

Chicago only needed three plays to make it 21-7. On first down, Williams hit Swift for a later developing screen play that got the Bears down to the Panthers' two-yard line. After what appeared to be a Swift touchdown, replay showed his knee down at the one. He then had another attempt and hit pay dirt.

The Bears defense got the ball back in the offense's hands again after forcing a turnover on downs at the Chicago 37 with one minute left in the half.

Williams then operated a nearly flawless two-minute drill:

• Five yards to Gerald Everett. Timeout No. 1 with 50 seconds left.
• Incomplete pass to Keenan Allen.
• Pass to Cole Kmet for 32 yards, out of bounds at the Carolina 32.
• Williams two-yard scramble; Carolina called timeout.
• Thirty-yard dime to Moore in the back of the end zone.

Cairos Santos missed the extra point, leaving the score at 27-7 in favor of the home team.

Twenty points from the offense alone in the second quarter was an impressive and encouraging display. After a week of emphasizing communication and chemistry, it seems Williams and Moore have things figured out. Williams connected with Moore on multiple big plays, including two explosive touchdowns, for five completions and 105 yards.

Committing to the Run

Facing another bottom-five run defense didn't exactly equate to big numbers, but offensive coordinator Shane Waldron called a good game, mixing in runs and personnel to keep a struggling Panthers' team off balance.

The Bears finished the day with 128 yards on 39 carries for an average of 3.3 yards per carry. It wasn't the best showing, even when removing backup quarterback Tyson Bagent's three kneel-downs, but it was still good to see the offense mix in the runs with Caleb Williams' accurate passes.

Swift logged 21 carries for 73 yards (3.5 YPC) and backup Roschon Johnson added another 25 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. Williams gained 34 yards on several key scrambles, two of which went for first downs. His long run of 11  yards came on a third-and-14 scenario that ended the Bears' opening drive of the third quarter.

Another Strong Day from the Defense

Aside from the Panthers' second drive, Chicago's defense was in control throughout the contest, consistently forcing Andy Dalton to settle for short passes. Dalton averaged a paltry 4.9 yards per attempt, far below the 7.5 yards running back Chuba Hubbard averaged on the ground. But the Panthers never sustained a drive long enough for it to cause any damage (outside his 38-yard score).

The Bears' pass rush stepped up, tallying 10 QB hits to go along with four sacks. Gervon Dexter Sr. continued his hot start to the season, securing his fourth sack in as many games.

Andrew Billings and rookie Austin Booker each took down Dalton for their first sacks of the year while DeMarcus Walker shared a sack with Kyler Gordon.

With a great pass rush, turnovers are bound to follow. The Bears had three takeaways, including Kevin Byard's interception and two fumble recoveries.

The first came when safety Jaquan Brisker torpedoed Panthers' wide receiver Tommy Tremble as he looked to turn a nine-yard pass upfield. The second occurred midway through the fourth quarter and ended any hope of a Carolina comeback.

Gordon recovered Hubbard's fumble forced by Tremaine Edmunds. After Hubbard caught a short pass, Edmunds used a classic "Peanut Punch" to dislodge the ball.

That turnover resulted in another seven points as the Bears offense took advantage of the short field and a defensive pass interference call in the end zone. Roschon Johnson put the cherry on top with his second score of the day to make it a 36-10 final.

By the Numbers

Caleb Williams had his best day of the early season, completing 20 of 29 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns. He was only sacked once and added another 34 yards on five carries.

DJ Moore had five receptions on eight targets for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Backup running back Roschon Johnson scored two goal-line touchdowns and had 25 yards on 10 carries.

Fourth-round pick Austin Booker recorded his first sack of the season, taking down Bryce Young on fourth and two and enabling the Bears to run out the clock in victory formation.

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