Nothing ever comes easily to the Bears, so it’ll likely take a lot for them to beat the Panthers on Thursday at Soldier Field. They’ll start undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent again as they wait for Justin Fields to recover from a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand.
The game is huge for the Bears, who own the Panthers’ upcoming first-round pick thanks to the trade they made this year when the Bears moved out of the No. 1 overall pick. The Panthers currently are slotted for the No. 2 selection in 2024.
The Bears are right behind them, but are fighting to get as many wins as possible this season and have a relatively light second half of the schedule. That means their best path to the top pick is to help the Panthers nosedive.
Here are three keys to getting that done Thursday:
Get the ball to DJ Moore at least 10 times.
The best part of that trade so far was getting wide receiver DJ Moore, who is the Bears’ best player. But they often have trouble making sure he gets the ball. After just 15 targets over the first three games, Moore averaged nine over the next four. But in the last two games, he had just 11 total targets and caught seven passes for 99 yards.
“I am conscious of the fact DJ is our guy,” Bagent said Wednesday. “He’s our X-factor, and I’ve got to do a good job of getting him the ball... If you want to play one-on-one against DJ, you usually should pay for that.”
Matt Eberflus must get creative defensively.
The Bears believe Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is vulnerable to being tricked. Safety Eddie Jackson says he has seen on film that Young has trouble with disguised defenses. That’s not totally surprising for a rookie, and the Bears need to take advantage of it. As interim defensive coordinator, Eberflus needs to come up with something smart that Young won’t recognize. That’s the key to getting takeaways.
The running game should power the offense.
The Bears see Bagent making progress despite his four-turnover debacle against the Saints, but they know their best plan is always to run the ball. Their offensive line is better at run blocking than pass blocking, and they should have their full running back trio available as Khalil Herbert seems likely to return. The Panthers are allowing the fifth-most yards rushing per game at 131.8.
