Panthers and Bears Game Day Outlook

Carolina Panthers (1-7) at Chicago Bears (2-7)

When: 7:15 p.m., Thursday

Where: Soldier Field, Chicago

TV: Amazon Prime, Fox-TV locally (Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Kaylee Hartung)

Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

Westwood One (Ian Eagle, Joe Thomas)

Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

The Line: Bears by 3 1/2 (over/under 40 1/2)

BearDigest Pick: Bears 27, Panthers 13

The Matchup: Tyson Bagent makes his fourth Bears start at QB for injured Justin Fields as the Bears and Panthers, who were involved in a big March trade prior to free agency, face each other. The Bears can help their 2024 draft cause by winning because they own Carolina's first-round pick in 2024. It's a reunion for WR DJ Moore and RB D'Onta Foreman, facing their old team. Carolina's QB Bryce Young, the top pick in the draft after they acquired the first pick from the Bears, has struggled at times with eight TD passes and seven interceptions.

The Series: The 12th matchup overall. The Bears lead 7-4 including a playoff loss after the 2005 season to the Panthers. The Bears are 5-0 in regular-season games at Soldier Field against the Panthers and won the last game 23-16 in 2020 at Carolina. The Bears won the last game at Soldier Field between the teams in 2017, 17-3. Eddie Jackson scored on a 75-yard fumble return and 76-yard interception return.

The Coaches: Panthers coach Frank Reich owns a 1-7 record in his first year at Carolina and is 41-40 in six NFL seasons. He hasn't faced the Bears.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus is 5-21 in his second season and hasn't faced the Panthers. Eberflus worked for Reich as defensive coordinator with the Colts from 2018-21.

Last Week: The Panthers and Reich lost to the Colts, his old team, 27-13 despite holding Indianapolis to 198 yards of offense. Defensive back Kenny Moore picked off two passes and returned them 49 and 66 yards for TDs against the Panthers.

Matching Up: The Panthers are 28th on offense, 27th in passing and 24th at rushing. They are 26th in scoring. Carolina is eighth on defense, fifth against the pass and 28th stopping the run. They are 31st in scoring defense.

The Bears are 19th on offense, 26th at passing and sixth in rushing. They are 17th in scoring. Chicago is 23rd on defense, 30th against the pass and third against the run. The Bears are 28th in scoring defense.

Stat Leaders:

Panthers QB Brice Young is 161 of 252 (63.9%) for 1,375 yards and eight TDs with seven INTs. He has a passer rating of 77.1. RB Chuba Hubbard leads Carolina in rushing with 85 carries for 328 yards (3.9 ypc) and one TD. WR Adam Thielen leads Carolina in receptions with 62, yards with 610 and receiving TDs with four. LB Frankie Luvu leads the Panthers in tackles with 62 and Brian Burns leads in tackles for loss with nine. Burns has a team-high five sacks while DT Shy Tuttle leads the Panthers in deflecting passes with five. Five Panthers have one interception each.

For the Bears, Bagent is 74 of 110 (67.3%) for 697 yards with three TDs and six INTs. His passer rating is 70.9. WR DJ Moore leads in receptions with 47, yards with 735 and is tied with Cole Kmet for the TDs lead with five. D'Onta Foreman leads the Bears in rushing with 287 yards on 65 carries. On defense, LB T.J. Edwards has a team-high 100 tackles while DT Justin Jones leads in tackles for loss with six. Edwards and Yannick Ngakoue lead the Bears in sacks with two. CB Jaylon Johnson leads in interceptions with two and CB Tyrique Stevenson in pass defenses with five.

Noteable: The Bears have run for 150 yards or more in five of their last six games and from Weeks 4-9 they ranked second in rushing behind only Baltimore. ... The Bears have 39 rushing plays of 10 yards or longer, second most by the team in the first nine weeks of a season this century. ... Cole Kmet's five TDs are tied for second in the NFL among tight ends. ... Since the start of 2022, only George Kittle (14) and Travis Kelce (16) have more TD catches than Kmet (12). ... The Bears have a league-low 10 sacks in nine games, and five of those came in one game against Washington. ... Former Bears kicker Eddy Pinero is the Panthers kicker. ... Former Bears WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette is on the Panthers roster. ... The Panthers are 5-9 all time on Thursday nights but have won their last two. ... D-Lineman Brian Burns is fifth all time in sacks (43) and tackles for loss (52) in franchise history. ... WR Adam Thielen needs four catches to become the fifth undrafted player since the start of the draft to make 600 career receptions. He is tied for the NFL lead in third-down catches with 20.

Injury Report: For the Panthers, OLB Brian Burns (concussion), CB C.J. Henderson (concussion), WR Laviska Shenault Jr. (ankle) and TE Stephen Sullivan (shoulder) are out. WR DJ Chark (elbow) is doubtful. S Vonn Bell (quad), OLB Marquis Haynes (back) and S Xavier Woods (thigh) are questionable.

For the Bears, FB Khari Blasingame (concussion), G Nate Davis (ankle), LB Tremaine Edmunds (knee) are out. QB Justin Fields (thumb) is doubtful. CB Josh Blackwell (hamstring), RB Khalil Herbert (ankle) and WR Equanimeous St. Brown (hamstring) are questionable.

Notable: Two of the worst teams taking care of the football. The Bears are minus-9 and Panthers minus-4. ... Carolina is winless on the road. ... Besides their other injuries, Carolina is without CB Jaycee Horn, who is on IR (hamstring). ... The Bears have a league-low 10 sacks and five of those came in one game against Washington. ... The Panthers are 1-10 against teams ranked in the top 10 in rushing since the 2021 season.

Key Individual Matchups

Bears CB Jaylon Johnson vs. Panthers WR Adam Thielen

Johnson is Pro Football Focus' highest graded cornerback by coverage grade and No. 2 overall but covering Thielen all over the field could require he move into the slot much of the time. It's questionable if the Bears will want him to do this. Thielen is graded PFF's 14th best receiver overall and 12th best as a pass catcher. Thielens' 62 receptions are 42 more than anyone else on the Panthers roster. Sportradar has Johnson at 53.6 for a passer rating allowed when targeted, 54.8% pass completions allowed when targeted. They are career bests.

Bears G Teven Jenkins vs. Panthers DT Derrick Brown

Without Burns available, Brown is easily the team's best available defensive lineman with 39 tackles, second most on the team. At 6-5, 320, he won't have a size advantage on Jenkins, who is 6-6, 321 and is graded the fourth-best guard by PFF. Brown is not just a run stopper as he gets occasional heat on passers, although he has only one sack. He has six QB hits.

Bears TE Cole Kmet vs. Panthers LB Frankie Luvu

Kmet had two TD passes last week, 10 catches the week before and has become a favorite target of Bagent's. Luvu is a downhill type linebacker who attacks the run and blitzes well but in coverage he struggles and only seven linebackers in the league have graded worse at defending the pass according to PFF. Bootlegs and seam routes are in for Kmet this week.

Bears DE Yannick Ngakoue vs. Panthers LT Ikem Ekownu

Ngakoue has just two sacks and will have his best chance to pick up sacks since his last one in the win over Washington. Ekownu is graded 55th as a pass blocker of 77 tackles by PFF. He has allowed five sacks with eight penalties.

Bears WR DJ Moore vs. Panthers CB Decaprio Bootle

C.J. Henderson won normally be the CB matching up on that side of the field with Moore but he's out injured. At 5-10, 180, Bootle is giving up 30 pounds and 2 1/2 inches to Moore. Bootle has played only 42 defensive snaps this year. They could also move veteran Troy Hill there, but he has played even less than Bootle. Or because of his experience Donte Jackson could be assigned to Moore all over the field. But Jackson had a quad injury last week so it would seem the former Panthers standout will be facing someone less experienced after being held in check four straight games.

Bears S Jaquan Brisker vs. Panthers TE Hayden Hurst

With 16 catches, Hurst is one of the more friendly targets in the middle of the field for Young. The veteran pass catcher had 52 catches with the Bengals last year. This isn't the Bengals he's with now. Panthers QBs have a 57.1 passer rating when targeting Hurst, so he hasn't been that friendly and now he'll face Brisker coming off a concussion.

Bears DT Justin Jones vs. Panthers LG Calvin Throckmorton

Throckmorton is graded 65th overall by PFF among blockers at guard but is a better pass blocker than run blocker. Jones should be able to disrupt the running game from his three technique spot. Jones had been struggling among the lowest graded D-tackles in PFF grades but is up to 97th among 126 now and his run defense has picked up as he leads the Bears in tackles for loss with six.

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