The Panthers' defense finally showed up in the second half Sunday against the Chicago. Here's what you need to know from Carolina's 31-24 win.
NFL Replay
Relive the Carolina Panthers' thrilling 31-24 victory over the Chicago Bears on Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET on NFL Network.
- Cam Newton has thrown the ball extremely well over the last month. This time he got enough help to win. Despite a number of drive-killing drops and mistakes by his wideouts, Newton kept delivering darts. More importantly, his defense gave him some short fields in the fourth quarter to help the Panthers pull off a 21-7 comeback.
- Something is not quite right with the Chicago passing attack. They schemed a number of great screens early in the game, but only put up three points after halftime. They are struggling to make intermediate throws, and Jay Cutler threw a killer interception in the fourth quarter.
- Luke Kuechly was everywhere. He finished with 15 tackles, and so many of them seemed to end Bears drives. The Bears killed Carolina with their screen game in the first half, but Kuechly was a one-man wrecking crew after intermission taking down Matt Forte.
- Kelvin Benjamin giveth, and Kelvin Benjamin taketh away. Our Offensive Rookie of the Year pick had a ton of negative plays Sunday with at least two to three drops, one fumble and a few times where he appeared to turn the wrong way when he could have had a big play. With all that said, Bears rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller did a great job on Benjamin.
- It looked like the Panthers' defense was going to have his third straight embarrassing performance and Carolina was going to fall to 2-3. But it stood tall to close out the game. Chicago had 27 yards combined with three turnovers on their final five drives. This is a result to remember when both of these teams are positioning for a playoff spot in December. The Bears are now 2-3.
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