It would have been the appropriate cap to a miserable week, but Bears fans watching “Monday Night Football” were not, in fact, gripped with a sudden feeling of buyers’ remorse.
Bryce Young, the rookie quarterback the Bears could have drafted first overall, was not a difference-maker in the Panthers’ 20-17 loss to the Saints.
He went 22-for-33 for 153 yards, one touchdown, one fumble lost and an 87.1 passer rating. Take away a garbage time touchdown drive, though — the Panthers got the ball down by 10 with 3:14 to play and took almost two minutes to score — and his numbers are even worse: 15-for-23 for 92 yards and a 73.1 rating.
The Panthers’ best strategy was to get the ball out of his hands. Amazingly, 12 of his 22 completions were outside the right hash and in the air no longer than five yards. The team was concerned enough about his size — Young is 5-10, 204 pounds — that they brought in backup Andy Dalton in to try a sneak.
Through two games, Young has the second-worst passer rating of any NFL starter (60.8) and the fifth-worst completion percentage (59.2). His 299 passing yards are last among quarterbacks who have played two full games. Per Pro Football Reference, no quarterback who’s played two full games has thrown fewer passes on target. No team has scored fewer points than the Panthers’ 27.
Bears GM Ryan Poles traded the No. 1 overall pick in March for the No. 9 pick (right tackle Darnell Wright, after a trade back with the Eagles), No. 61 (cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, after a trade up with the Jaguars), a first-rounder in 2024, a second-rounder in 2025 and receiver DJ Moore. Every Panthers loss helps the Bears, moving that 2024 first-round pick further up. The way Justin Fields has been playing, the Bears could use it to draft a passer of their own.
Some quarterbacks are undeniable from the get-go. In their second starts, Patrick Mahomes threw for four touchdowns and Justin Herbert threw for 330 yards.
Young has plenty of time to get on track. But so far, he’s shown little reason for Chicago fans to fear the trade was Brock-for-Broglio. It has a better chance of being Cashner-for-Rizzo.
Elsewhere around the league:
• All four NFC North teams lost last week, and all but one — the Packers — has a negative point differential. No one’s won at home. The mediocre division is a better reason to believe in the Bears than anything the team itself has done.
• The grotesque knee injury to Browns running back Nick Chubb makes me wonder if they’ll call the Colts about Jonathan Taylor, who’s on the physically unable to perform list. No one’s traded a first-round pick for a running back in 10 years. It was the same two teams: the Colts sent a pick for bust Trent Richardson at this time of year, two games into the season.
• Raise your hand if you had the Commanders, Bucs and Falcons all undefeated through two weeks.
Here are the reshuffled power rankings after Week 2:
1. Eagles (2-0) — D’Andre Swift had 175 rushing yards vs. the Vikings; the Bears have 189 total.
2. 49ers (2-0) — Christian McCaffrey is averaging 134 rushing yards.
3. Chiefs (1-1) — How much does TV brass love the Chiefs? Sunday was their only noon Sunday game all year.
4. Dolphins (2-0) — They’re 2-0 on the road against AFC playoff contenders.
5. Ravens (2-0) — Through two games, they’ve yet to trail.
6. Cowboys (2-0) — They’ve outscored their opponents by 60.
7. Bills (1-1) — No team helped themselves in Week 2 more than the Bills, who won by 28 after losing to Zach Wilson.
8. Browns (1-1) — Quarterback Deshaun Watson has been brutal thus far.
9. Jaguars (1-1) — Christian Kirk had 14 targets Sunday; no Bears player has as many in two games.
10. Lions (1-1) — Jared Goff threw his first pick in 383 passes Sunday, 30 short of Aaron Rodgers’ record.
11. Seahawks (1-1) — With the Panthers, Giants, Bengals and Cardinals coming up, the Seahawks could be 5-1.
12. Saints (2-0) — Entering the season, they had the second-easiest strength of schedule in the NFL.
13. Bengals (0-2) — What’s scarier, Joe Burrow’s problem calf of his 70.6 passer rating?
14. Chargers (0-2) — Justin Herbert is turning into NFL’s Mike Trout — a great player (we think) with a losing career record.
15. Buccaneers (2-0) — Baker Mayfield is fifth in passer rating among quarterbacks with more than 25 passes.
16. Commanders (2-0) — Give up a 50-yard Hail Mary at the gun? Check. Stop the two-point conversion to win? Check.
17. Falcons (2-0) — Bijan Robinson’s averaging an absurd 6.2 yards per carry.
18. Giants (1-1) — They gave up 60 points before scoring one of their own this season, and are somehow 1-1.
19. Steelers (1-1) — Monday’s win was not repeatable: two defensive touchdowns, a 71-yard scoring catch and two 50-plus-yard field goals.
20. Packers (1-1) — They gave up 13-straight points to the Falcons to lose.
21. Jets (1-1) — A 38.1 passer rating for Wilson on Sunday? Woof.
22. Titans (1-1) — An overtime field goal snapped their eight-game losing streak.
23. Patriots (0-2) — They revolutionized field goal blocks Sunday by running Brenden Schooler parallel to the line of scrimmage before he broke for the ball.
24. Rams (1-1) — Sean McVay’s decision to kick a meaningless field goal at the gun covered the point spread.
25. Vikings (0-2) — They went 11-0 in one-score games last regular season. Counting the playoffs, they’ve lost three-straight one-score games.
26. Raiders (1-1) — Josh Jacobs, last year’s rushing leader, has 28 carries for 46 yards.
27. Broncos (0-2) —Maybe Sean Payton’s so-called genius was having Drew Brees at quarterback.
28. Colts (1-1) — Anthony Richardson became the third quarterback ever to rush for three touchdowns in his first two games before being concussed.
29. Bears (0-2) — The real reason the Bears lost Sunday: their orange helmets and jerseys.
30. Panthers (0-2) — Since leaving the Bears, Eddy Pineiro has made all but two of his 47 field goals.
31. Texans (0-2) — If they can’t beat the Colts at home with Indy’s backup quarterback playing most of the game ….
32. Cardinals (0-2) — The presumed worst team in the NFL has put up a good fight, losing twice by a combined seven points.
