Bryce Young watched from the sideline as Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams – the quarterback who will forever be linked to Young in NFL history – faced third-and-13 late in the third quarter.
With a wired headset in his left ear, Young walked the sideline as his Carolina Panthers tried to stage a comeback from a 20-point hole.
He took mental reps during his team’s offensive moments. During defensive moments like this, he reviewed the strategy he should have imitated during practice that week as the scout team quarterback.
So when the Panthers’ defense stopped Keenan Allen two yards for a first down, Young clapped for his teammates and gave him a high five, even though he hadn’t seen the field in three weeks.
He was supportive. But this wasn’t the plan.
The Carolina Panthers didn’t trade two first-round draft picks, two second-round picks and their top receiver to draft a cheerleader who would be benched for two games in his second season.
They didn’t trade from the ninth to the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft with the expectation that Young would throw 11 touchdowns against 10 interceptions in his debut season, completing 59.8% of his passes while recording 62 sacks for a league-worst 477 yards. .
Fair or not, the Panthers expected Young to be useful upon arrival, much like Williams was for Chicago this year.
Instead, the Panthers engineered a trade that accelerated the Bears’ rebuild and greatly hindered their own season, as Young’s 2-15 rookie season gifted Chicago the first overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft which it used on Williams.
On Sunday, when the two teams faced off for the first time since Chicago drafted Williams with its gift-wrapped top pick, Young largely watched from the sidelines as his own team sputtered and Williams posted a 126.2 passer rating that tied Young’s career (70. 9) far exceeded. marking. It all emphasized how far apart these franchises are.
This wasn’t just about a result that pushed Chicago back above .500 at 3-2, while the Panthers flew home at 1-4. This was about the players who dictated that outcome – starting with the quarterbacks and one key receiver.
On the day Panthers could use DJ Moore, Bears did just that
The Panthers held their own early in the game, with each team trading a three-and-out before then exchanging touchdown drives.
But after running back Chuba Hubbard ran through the heart of Chicago’s generally sound defense for a 38-yard score, the Bears didn’t just find the end zone with any player — they found the end zone with two players they otherwise wouldn’t have had. for Carolina.
With 5:44 to play in the first quarter, Williams seemed to sense that when Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn had his man darting from left to right, no defender picked up receiver DJ Moore. So the Panthers’ 2018 first-round pick picked off Williams’ pass and went the distance for a 34-yard touchdown against the team he once scored 21 for.
“It’s amazing,” Moore said after the game, with a daughter on each of his legs. “It took five weeks to get the passing game going, and when it hits, it hits. It was good today.”
The Bears pulled away in the second quarter. Carolina didn’t score at all as Chicago twice capped off scoring drives with 1-yard rushing touchdowns and then returned to the man who had played for both teams.
This time, with 24 seconds to play in the first half, Williams looked from his safety to his right and made a slight lift. He found Moore in the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown, with Moore catching the backward pass as if Carolina cornerback Michael Jackson hadn’t been draped over him as thoroughly as he had.
Williams and Moore were ecstatic when they played this piece they created in practice, Moore said.
“We were both like, ‘Finally we could achieve that,’” Williams said. “The coverage shifted when I made the check to the right side. DJ did a good job of keeping it lean, getting on his toes … (and) obviously did a great job and made a great catch.
“When you have such a special player in your team, you obviously want to give him the ball, let him DJ and be special.”
Even as the Bears’ defense softened amid the lead, the Panthers managed to convert just 4 of 15 attempts on third and fourth down, as well as going 0-for-2 in the red zone.
They missed the receiver who averaged 55 first downs in his career and struggled to recover from casualties on the offensive line.
The Panthers brought on Young for the final drive, trailing by 26 with 4:15 to play. He finished 4 of 7 for 58 yards in relief.
But starting quarterback Andy Dalton said Young “looked comfortable” and Panthers head coach Dave Canales appreciated Young taking advantage of live replays.
“He did a fantastic job, playing with energy, extending plays and finding some completions downfield, which is all fantastic,” Canales said. “It’s a difficult situation, but at that moment… I wanted to get Andy out of there and just give Bryce a chance to put some good football in there while we had time.
On the other side of the ball, Williams went 20 of 29 (68.9%) for 304 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers. Williams also rushed for 34 yards on five carries.
“He knows this is his first year and he’s going to have to deal with a lot of different things,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said. “He’s just learning and growing. You can see that. Over the course of the matches we have, he has to continue to grow.
“He’s leveling up.”
While Panthers dug their own hole, Caleb Williams reaped the rewards
Credit Williams for the progress he showed in his fifth NFL start.
Williams posted his second-highest yardage, career-best passer rating, best touchdown-to-interception ratio and lowest sack total.
And yet, it’s not unfair to suggest that the Bears set up Williams to have far more success than the Panthers set up Young last year. A coaching carousel, a shaky offensive line and a limited pool of skill players didn’t help Young find confidence or rhythm at the professional level.
Williams doesn’t appear to have a much steadier offensive line, but he does have a top-10 defense, a dual-effective run game and a deep group of pass-catchers headlined by Moore, Allen and Rome, this year’s ninth overall pick . Odunze.
The trade also accounts for right tackle Darnell Wright, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, punter Tory Taylor, Williams, Moore and an additional 2025 second-round pick.
The Panthers deserve criticism for making a costly trade for a player they misjudged, weren’t willing to back, or both.
The Bears now know that their spoils are not entirely the result of their merits.
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“We’re extremely fortunate to be in the situation we’re in,” assistant general manager Ian Cunningham told Yahoo Sports during training camp. “We had good foresight and tried to maximize the depth position we had on certain moves. And I guess we were a little lucky too, right?
“I think it’s fair to say.”
Now that they have a more complete picture of their supporting cast, the Bears appear to have found the right formula to back Williams.
Part of their success Sunday reflects the level of defense the Panthers put forth against Williams. And some reflect an evolving game plan and a quarterback mentality that is less fixated on making the big play and more interested in staying alive through efforts to diversify game plans.
The Bears are leaning on short passes, checkdowns and run games to open up the deep ball, hoping that throwing several looks at the defense before and after the snap will cause the defense to “just try to scramble,” Williams said .
“I thought he did a great job of extending the plays,” Canales said of Williams. “We had him dead on the right side a few times. He wobbled out of big rushes, there was a lot of pressure on him. We had things settled and he expanded the piece and found completions.
“He was comfortable and played good football.”
Williams and Moore also had their most success yet, with Moore catching five of his eight targets for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
As the Bears travel to England next Sunday morning to play the Jacksonville Jaguars, they hope this win will continue to build on the foundation they have been developing.
“Just a special game today to get us all going,” Moore said. “We have a lot of fun doing it. With pleasure comes great profit, and with victory comes great pleasure.”
