Bears and Panthers Game Day Glance: TV, Radio, Matchups
Chicago Bears (4-1) at Carolina Panthers (3-2)
Kickoff: Sunday, noon, central time, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.
TV: Fox (Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, Shannon Spake)
Radio: WBBM AM-780, 105.9 FM (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote)
Univision Deportes: AM-1200, 93.5 FM
Sirius XM (Channel 228, streaming channel 805
The Line: Panthers by 1 1/2 (over/under 44)
The Series: 11th meeting. The Bears lead the series 6-4. The Bears won the last game, 17-3 in 2017 at Soldier Field as Eddie Jackson had two 75-yard returns for touchdowns, one on a fumble and the other an interception of Cam Newton. The Bears have three of the last four in the series. The Panthers won the last game in Carolina, 31-24 in 2014.
The Coaches: Bears coach Matt Nagy is 24-13 in his third season. Panthers coach Matt Rhule is 3-2 in his first season.
The Quarterbacks: Nick Foles makes his third Bears start. He has started only one game against the Carolina Panthers and it was his second start in his rookie year of 2012, a 30-22 loss.
Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is 11-3 in his last 14 NFL starts including 3-2 this year with Carolina. His teams are 4-1 in starts against the Bears and he has won his last four starts against Chicago. Bridgewater has a 90.3 career passer rating but is 101.9 for this season.
Last Week: The Bears trailed Tampa Bay 13-0 but rallied to win 20-19 at Soldier Field. A key Kyle Fuller forced fumble, a TD run of 3 yards by David Montgomery and a 13-yard TD pass from Nick Foles to Jimmy Graham allowed the Bears to take the lead, and the game had four lead changes with Bears scoring the winning points on a 38-yard Cairo Santos field goal with 1:13 left. Carolina won 23-16 over Atlanta as former Bears running back Mike Davis ran for 89 yards and caught a 3-yard TD pass from Teddy Bridgewater, and Bridgewater found D.J. Moore on a 57-yard TD pass.
Matching Up: The Bears are 27th on offense, 23rd passing and 27th rushing. The Bears are ninth on defense, 16th against the run and 10th against the pass. The Panthers are sixth on offense, fifth passing and 14th rushing. The Panthers are 14th on defense, fourth against the pass and 25th against the run.
Key Individual Matchups
Bears Outside Linebacker Khalil Mack vs. Panthers Right Tackle Taylor Moton
Normally Mack holds big one-on-one advantages against tackles but based on Pro Football Focus grades this one becomes almost an even matchup. The Panthers may not even need to do what other teams do and double- or triple-team Mack. Moton has been that effective since becoming a full-time starter in 2018. His current PFF rating is an outstanding 81.1. He has never been below 70 in his PFF rating through four seasons. Moton has committed just one penalty and has allowed no sacks this season. It doesn't get much easier for Mack if he flips sides and comes off the offense's left edge, because veteran Russell Okung is enjoying one of his better seasons since his days in Seattle. Moton is major reason Teddy Bridgewater can work the edges in the passing game, and also has been extremely effective on Carolina's power-running attack with Mike Davis carrying the ball. Mack has had 3 1/2 sacks but he's actually taken the quarterback to the ground 5 1/2 times, losing two sacks due to flags. Mack's rush was most apparent in the last game as he repeatedly got in Tom Brady's face. Moton is not a massive, slow-footed power blocker by right tackle standards, at 6-foot-5, 325, and that could work to Mack's advantage as his great strength as a pass rusher is the bull rush or combination moves off of a bull rush.
Bears Right Cornerback Jaylon Johnson vs. Panthers Wide Receiver Robby Anderson
Anderson in many cases lines up on the other side of the offense from Johnson, but the Panthers have moved him around enough that they're certain to try to take advantage of a matchup against the rookie. Anderson came into the league listed at 4.5-second speed but has always been one receiver who plays far faster than his 40 time. He's a legitimate threat to hurt the Bears deep if Bridgewater gets time to set up for deep throws, which haven't really been a big part of what the Panthers have shown so far. Although Johnson hasn't maintained the pace he had the first two games, he remains a tough defender to pass against. Quarterbacks have a 44.7% completion rate when targeting him, and only a passer rating of 76.1 on those plays according to Sportradar. He has allowed a touchdown. He is giving up 15 yards a catch, which is alarming. Look for Anderson to scare him off with some deeper routes and then try to feast on the extra yardage underneath that he bought by flashing the longer routes early.
Bears Linebacker Roquan Smith on Panthers Running Back Mike Davis
Little did the Bears expect Davis could flourish the way he has. It's been in a totally different style of running attack than the Bears run, using a blocking scheme more running back-friendly. Davis is the prototypical one-cut runner. If he has a few yards of open space in front, he can make that one cut and go. The Bears want to penetrate and force Davis to make the cut early before he would want to, and then mop up with defenders off the other side. It takes a low hit on Davis to bring him down because of his 5-9, 221-pound size and hard-driving style. Smith normally has been one of the more dependable Bears tacklers but the 6-3, 230-pounder missed two tackles in the backfield last week and has missed 7% of his tackles this year after missing only 3.8% last season. Davis has another edge Smith has to be wary of, especially in goal line or short-yardage situations. Teddy Bridgewater likes finding him open in the flat after faking to him on play-action in what is basically a triple-option play. It worked for a touchdown last week.
Bears Tight End Jimmy Graham vs. Panthers Linebacker Tahir Whitehead
The Bears could get the same effect using any one of their tight ends over the middle. It could finally be a chance to get Cole Kmet involved at doing something besides committing penalties. Graham has been tough for opponents to handle in the red zone, as both Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace predicted before this season. His contributions haven't been as great elsewhere, but four touchdown catches is more than he had in either of his Packer seasons and is twice the total the Bears had from all of their tight ends combined last season. Nick Foles likes getting the ball to his tight ends with regularity and has really made good use of this in the red zone. Whitehead is the former outside linebacker for the Raiders and Lions who has been converted to middle linebacker, and is struggling to defend the pass in his 10th season. It's not uncommon for him to experience difficulties against the pass. He has a 110.3 passer rating against and is allowing 84.6% completions when targeted, this coming off a year when he allowed a 140.4 passer rating against and six TD catches for the Raiders. Whitehead hasn't been great stopping the run, either. The Panthers are only 27th defending the run. Overall, Pro Football Focus has given Whitehead a grade of 28.1 this year, which is miserable. He has been able to blitz the middle effectively, but his run-stopping grade is only 29.7. The Bears could have open ranges over the middle.
Bears Defensive End Akiem Hicks vs. Panthers Right Guard John Miller
Hicks is coming off his only game this season without a sack or tackle for loss. He did tip a pass and was active in the rush, and helped take some of the pressure off of Khalil Mack so Mack could get two sacks as well as constant pressure. Both of the Bears edge rushers are matched up against strong tackles in this game and the heat will need to come on Teddy Bridgewater from inside. Miller has allowed two sacks and committed three penalties and has been playing at a below-average level according to PFF. He has a 57.5 run-blocking grade by PFF and 59.8 overall. Neither of the Panthers guards has enjoyed strong seasons by PFF standards.
Bears Wide Receiver Allen Robinson vs. Panthers Cornerback Rasul Douglas
It's not that Douglas is iniexperienced or lacking skills, it's just that Robinson over the last three games has ascended to a different level in terms of finding ways to get the ball. Robinson has a high catch percentage of 69.2% in those three games with 27 receptions in 39 attempts and every day is getting to know his new quarterback a little better. Robinson has averaged 11.6 yards a reception in that stretch, 8.05 yards per target. The Panthers have had one of the league's better pass defenses and Douglas has been part of the reason why, but is a complete surprise in this regard. He was cut by the Eagles and Carolina picked him up. So far this season he has a solid 66.7% completion percentage allowed and strong 79.7 passer rating against. At 6-foot-2 he is more capable of matching up with Robinson than many shorter cornerbacks, but height hasn't necessarily meant other cornerbacks could match up with Robinson in the past.
Injury Report
Bears
Safety Deon Bush out (hamstring)
OL Alex Bars questionable (shoulder)
DB Sherrick McManis questionable (hamstring)
DE Brent Urban questionable (knee)
Panthers
CB Eli Apple questionable (hamstrnig)
CB Donte Jackson questionable (toe)
DT Zach Kerr questionable (toe)
WR Curtis Samuel questionable (knee)
Of Note: Nose tackle John Jenkins has been activated for the game from injured reserve. ... The Panthers this week put DT Kawann Short (shoulder) and DE Yetur Gross-Matos (ankle) on injured reserve. ... Panthers backup center Tyler Larsen has been placed this week on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. ... Bears practice squad player Badara Traore remains on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. The Bears have been underdogs in five of their last six games and are 5-1 in those six games. The Bears are one of six teams in the league not to have lost a fumble this season. ... Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks are tied for sixth in the NFL in sacks with 3 1/2. ... Davis was with the Bears last year and was released at midseason so the team could qualify for a compensatory draft pick, which later turned out to be the 140th pick in Round 4 and was used to trade for Foles. ... Bridgewater has six TD passes and a rushing TD in his last two starts against the Bears, with no interceptions. ... Panthers WR Robby Anderson is one of three NFC receivers with three 100-yard receiving games this season.
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