Revenge of the ex-Bear on Sunday? 6 points on the Chicago Bears heading into Week 5 vs. Carolina
LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The Chicago Bears are looking for their first winning streak of the 2024 season. There's a good chance it comes against the Carolina Panthers.
Here are six points as the Chicago Bears move from Week 4 to Week 5.
The run game success on Sunday was always about belief
Take Matt Pryor's word for it. It was always there for the Bears.
"We've always been able to run the ball," Pryor said after the Bears' win on Sunday. "It was just an aspect of everybody being on the same page with calls and coach allowing us to go out there and execute."
The much-maligned Bears offensive line showed its mettle against the Rams. It wasn't perfect, to be clear.
Starting left tackle Braxton Jones struggled against Rams rookie Jared Verse, false starts plagued right tackle Darnell Wright and the interior of the line shifted around with injuries.
Still, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron committed to running the football 28 times and it worked.
"I don't think we're surprised at how we ran the ball," Pryor said. "It's just the fact of us going out there executing the plays."
The Bears face a Panthers' run defense that's worst in the NFL this Sunday. But, the offense can't afford to overlook anyone.
"It's a matter of building off of last week," Bears running back Roschon Johnson said. "We can't pay attention to whatever the statistics say."
The biggest threat to the Bears: Chubba Hubbard
The Bears' defense is a top-10 unit in the league. The Panthers' rushing attack, though, might be very well-equipped to attack the Bears' defense.
The Bears rank 19th in both total rushing yards and yards per carry through four games. The Bears ranked first in the league in run defense after last year.
It's not something the Bears are overlooking, either.
"We’re leaking," Sweat said Thursday.
It's also a part of the defense the Bears are looking to improve. It's not easy to be at the top in both pass and run defenses.
"Everyone's trying to find that sweet spot of consistency. We're not unique in that particular way," Bears' defensive coordinator Eric Washington said. "I have a lot of confidence that when the dust is settled and we evaluate our full body of work, we'll be exactly where we need to be."
To be fair, the Bears have faced vested talent at running back through four weeks. First was veteran Tony Pollard in Tennessee, the Texans' Joe Mixon came after that, Colts' star back Johnathan Taylor followed and the Rams' Kyren Williams was the most recent back to test the Bears.
Hubbard will be the next back to run at the Bears, and it's easy to overlook a player like him when he's playing for a bad team. Hubbard has rushed for over 100 yards in his last two games.
The Bears are in the top 10 when it comes to defending the pass, but the run can come with time. Especially as the defense knows it needs to be a focal point going forward.
"We'll address the things that we need to do to be as consistent as we possibly can," Washington said.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 29: Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears celebrates after his team defeated the Los Angeles Rams at Soldier Field on September 29, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
What's next for Caleb? Continuity.
Eberflus talked about continuity on the offensive line Friday, and how that's going to play a part in how the unit progresses.
That should also be Caleb Williams' mantra entering Week 5.
Williams wasn't lighting up the scoreboard on Sunday, but he made the right plays. His nine-yard touchdown to DJ Moore in the second half was as good of a play as any Bears' quarterback has made in the last decade.
Williams, going through progressions, zeroed in on Moore when he realized there was a linebacker on the star receiver. It was a great play, and the Bears need more of it. It's why I agree with Waldron when he was asked about expanding the offense and perhaps opening the playbook for Williams a bit more.
"For us, we have a good core group of plays and each week you start with your core group of plays," Waldron said Thursday. "Understanding those and being really good at what those are."
Getting great at the simple things is key for Williams, especially as the running game needs to evolve around him. That's not Williams' job either to curate the running game. That falls on Waldron, and Waldron got it going against the Rams.
What Williams can do better, Waldron said, is identify when the defense is allowing check down route where Williams can allow his skill players to get to work.
"He had a couple check downs on play actions where he did a really good job of staying clean against whatever defensive front structure was occurring on those plays," Waldron said. "The next step would be the balance of that versus when is the time to go down the field with some of the throws."
If he does more of that on a more consistent basis, the Bears' rookie records should be within range soon.
The Bears' best-case scenario…
… Would be wins this week and next week for the Bears, and they're very winnable games.
The Bears have won three-straight games against Carolina dating back to 2017, when former Bear and rookie safety Eddie Jackson recorded an interception touchdown and a fumble-return touchdown against Carolina to score 14 points in the Bears' 17-3 win.
The present-day Panthers are a mess, still reeling from the trade that netted them the No. 1 overall pick where they selected Bryce Young instead of CJ Stroud. Now, former Bears quarterback Andy Dalton starts in Carolina as Young takes time to sit and learn the game in his second season as a pro.
The Panthers are also struggling on defense, giving the Bears' running game a chance to gain momentum and forge an offensive identity.
The same goes for the Jaguars in London. Jacksonville is currently 0-4, 29th in offensive points per game and 30th in points allowed per game. That doesn't seem to be improving anytime soon, as head coach Doug Peterson is the early candidate to be on the hot seat.
It would also be good standing for the Bears to be 4-2 going into their bye week with the Commanders and their high-octane offense to deal with coming off the break.
Using Doug Kramer at FB is a smart move
The Bears drafted former Illinois offensive lineman Doug Kramer in the 2022 NFL Draft where the team ended draft weekend with four new offensive linemen.
This includes Kramer, current starting left tackle Braxton Jones, Zachary Thomas and Ja'Tyre Carter. Carter and Thomas are no longer on the roster.
Kramer has been vying for a spot on the Bears' offensive line since he was drafted, but in a goal-line situation against the Rams the Bears put Kramer in at full back, a la William Perry in 1985 or Akiem Hicks in 2018.
Eberflus said that's still valuable.
"I know it's full back, in different spots that we're putting him in, but that's always valuable time and experience to be able to get in there," Eberflus said. "He's working his butt off."
Getting a massive human being at full back, especially with Khari Blasingame recovering from his injury, is always a good thing. That's a strong player defenders need to fight through, and offensive creativity is very much welcome after the Bears fluttered in Weeks 2 and 3. It worked like a charm, getting Johnson his first score of the season.
When will Kramer be in a position to crack the offensive line rotation, though? That's still to be determined.
"I can't really put a timetable on that," Eberflus said. "It's based on production, based on opportunity and we'll see where it goes. But he's really working hard and doing a good job."
Quarterback Andy Dalton of the Chicago Bears on the sidelines after being injuring in the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field on September 19, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Revenge of the former Bears?
If Dalton scores a touchdown for the Panthers on Sunday, that will mark the third time in the last four meetings that a former Bear and current Panther scores a touchdown on Chicago.
Dalton, if he throws or rushes for a score, would be the latest ex-Bear to score a touchdown on Chicago.
Before Dalton, Ihmir Smith-Marsette returned a punt for a touchdown in last year's 16-13 Bears' win, running back Mike Davis scored a rushing touchdown in the Bears' 2020 win over Carolina and Greg Olsen caught a touchdown pass from Cam Newton in Carolina's 2014 win over the Bears.
Smith-Marsette and Davis had rather unspectacular tenures with the Bears. Smith-Marsette is most known for fumbling the ball away after a Justin Fields' pass on a last-minute drive that sealed a win for the Vikings in 2022.
Davis was signed behind David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen in 2019, but was cut midway through the 2019 season as the Bears aimed to gain a compensatory draft pick. The Panthers picked up Davis and he enjoyed a six-touchdown season in 2020, with one coming against the Bears.
Perhaps the one that got away will forever be Olsen, the former Bears' first-round pick out of Miami was a stellar pass catcher and blocker from 2007 to 2010 before he was traded to Carolina for a day-three crack pick by then general manager Jerry Angelo.
Olsen was deemed to be a player that didn't fit in then-offensive coordinator Mike Martz's scheme, and was dealt to Carolina where he was a three-time Pro Bowler and a two-time All-Pro player.
Angelo, in 2014, deemed that move a mistake.
"We let our best receiver go," Angelo said on WGWG 87.7 Chicago in 2014. "That’s on me. I understand what the coaches were saying, but you don’t let one of your better players out the door."