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 along the sideline as his Carolina Panthers attempted to recover from a 20-point hole and counting.
During his team’s offensive moments, he did mental repetitions. During defensive moments like this, he was reviewing the strategy he had been tasked with emulating in practice that week as quarterback of the scout team.
So when the Panthers’ defense stopped Keenan Allen two yards short of a first down, Young cheered and high-fived his teammates, even though he hadn’t seen the field in three weeks.
He was supportive. But this was not the plan.
The Carolina Panthers didn’t trade two first-round picks, two second-round picks and their top receiver to draft a cheerleader who would be benched two games into his second season.
They did not trade from the ninth to the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft with the expectation that Young would throw 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his debut season, completing 59.8% of his passes while making 62 catches for 477 yards. , the worst in the league. .
Fair or not, the Panthers expected Young to be available upon his arrival, as Williams has been this year for Chicago.
Instead, the Panthers engineered a trade that accelerated the Bears’ rebuild and greatly hampered their own, as Young’s 2-15 rookie season gave Chicago the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft it used. in Williams.
On Sunday, when the two teams met for the first time since Chicago selected Williams with its gift-wrapped first pick, Young largely watched from the sideline as his own team faltered and Williams posted a 126.2 passer rating. which far surpassed Young’s career 70.9. brand. It all highlighted how far apart these franchises are.
It wasn’t just a result that pushed Chicago back above .500 at 3-2 while the Panthers fly home 1-4. It was about the players who dictated that outcome, starting with the quarterbacks and a key receiver.
On the day the Panthers could use DJ Moore, the Bears did just that
The Panthers held their own early in the game, each team trading three-and-outs before exchanging touchdown drives.
But after running back Chuba Hubbard ran into the heart of Chicago’s usually solid 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 who wouldn’t have but. For Carolina.
With 5:44 left in the first quarter, Williams seemed to sense that while Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn was letting his man run from left to right, no defender was picking up wide receiver DJ Moore. Then, the Panthers’ 2018 first-round pick grabbed Williams’ pass and covered 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 on the field and when it hits, it hits. It was good today.”
In the second quarter, the Bears pulled away. Carolina didn’t score at all and Chicago twice capped scoring drives with 1-yard rushing touchdowns and then returned to the man who had played for both teams.
This time, with 24 seconds left in the first half, Williams looked toward his safety to the right and hooked up slightly. Finding Moore in the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown, Moore caught the back pass as if Carolina cornerback Michael Jackson wasn’t covering him as completely as he was.
Williams and Moore were elated to make this play they had made in practice, Moore said.
“We both thought, ‘We were finally able to do that,’” Williams said. “The coverage moved when I made the check to the right side. DJ did a good job keeping the skinny, staying alert… (and) obviously did a great job and made a great catch.
“Having a special player like that on your team, obviously you want to give him the ball, let him DJ and be special.”
Even with the Bears’ defense weakening amid the lead, the Panthers managed to convert just 4 of 15 attempts on third and fourth downs, as well as 0 of 2 in the red zone.
They missed the receiver who averaged 55 first downs over his career and struggled to recover from offensive line downs.
The Panthers replaced Young for the final drive, trailing 26 with 4:15 left. He finished 4 of 7 for 58 yards in relief.
But starting quarterback Andy Dalton said Young “seemed comfortable” and Panthers head coach Dave Canales appreciated Young capitalizing on live reps.
“He did a fantastic job, playing with energy, extending plays, finding some completions down the field, which is fantastic,” Canales said. “It’s a tough situation, but at that point… I wanted to get Andy out of there and just give Bryce a chance to keep playing good football while we have time.”
On passing passes, Williams was 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 the first year and he’s going to face 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 games we have, he needs to continue to grow.
“He’s going to level up.”
As the Panthers dug their own hole, Caleb Williams reaped the benefits
You have to give Williams credit for the progress he showed in his fifth NFL start.
Williams recorded his second-most yards, best passer rating of his career, best touchdown/interception ratio and lowest sack total.
And yet, it’s not unfair to suggest that the Bears prepared Williams for success much more than the Panthers prepared Young last year. A carousel of coaches, a shaky offensive line and a limited collection of skill players did not help Young find confidence or rhythm at the professional level.
Williams doesn’t appear to have a much more stable offensive line, but he does have a top-10 defense, an effective two-front running game and a deep group of pass catchers led by Moore, Allen and this year’s ninth overall pick, Rome. Odunze.
The trade haul also includes 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 either misvalued, weren’t prepared to support, or both.
The Bears, meanwhile, know their haul isn’t entirely a result of merit.
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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 draft position we had in certain moves. And I think we were also partly lucky, right?
“I think it’s fair to say.”
Now that they have a more complete picture of their cast, the Bears appear to be settling into the right formula to support Williams.
Part of their success Sunday reflects the caliber of defense the Panthers displayed against Williams. And some reflect an evolving game plan and a quarterback mentality less obsessed with making every play a great play and more interested in staying alive in drives to diversify game plans.
The Bears are leaning toward short passes, checks and running games to open up the deep ball, hoping that throwing different looks at the defense before and after the snap will leave defenses “just trying to scramble,” Williams said.
“I thought he did a fantastic job extending plays,” Canales said of Williams. “We had him dead on the right side a couple of times. He escaped great attacks, great pressure on him. We had things covered and he expanded the game and found shots.
“He settled in and played some good football.”
Williams and Moore also had their most success together yet, with Moore catching five of his eight targets for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
As the Bears travel to England to play the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday morning, they hope to build on the foundation they further developed with this victory.
“Just a special game today to get us all excited,” Moore said. “We are having a lot of fun doing it. With fun comes a lot of victories, and with victories comes a lot of fun.”
