Chicago Bears vs. Carolina Panthers: Full Report Card Grades for Chicago

After a hot start on offense in the first half, the Chicago Bears struggled to put points on the board in the second half against Carolina, ultimately falling to the Panthers by a score of 31-24.

The Panthers got on the board first, returning a punt for a touchdown in the first quarter to give them an early 7-0 lead.

Jay Cutler and the Chicago offense began pushing the ball down the field before Cutler was intercepted by Carolina's Roman Harper at the Carolina 31-yard line in the first quarter.

The defense was able to create a couple of turnovers in the first half, and the Bears offense was able to turn those turnovers into points. Chicago then went into halftime with a 21-14 lead.

Matt Forte was the star of the Bears offense for much of the game, finishing with 166 total yards, including 105 receiving yards, but he will be remembered for his fumble late in the fourth quarter, which helped set up the Panthers' game-winning touchdown.

Despite Forte's fumble, head coach Marc Trestman said after the game that the offense needed to put the ball in the end zone, but it was simply unable to.

"The fact of that matter is that we get down there and we haven’t been able to push it through," Trestman told the media after the game, via ChicagoFootball.com's Kevin Fishbain. "We were on the wrong side of the field, and we just couldn’t get enough going to get a couple of first downs and start moving the ball. There were a couple of drives that were significant in the second half.”

With their loss on Sunday, combined with Green Bay's victory over Minnesota on Thursday Night Football and Detroit's loss on Sunday, the Bears now sit in fourth place in the NFC North division with a record of 2-3.

Here are our report card grades for each Bears unit following their Week 5 loss to the Carolina Panthers. 

Quarterback

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

The question before every Bears game is whether or not the team is going to get Good Jay Cutler or Bad Jay Cutler.

Sunday's game against Carolina ended up being a combination of both.

Cutler completed 28 of his 36 pass attempts for 289 yards with two passing touchdowns. He also ran one in for a touchdown. He completed over 77 percent of his passes Sunday, but he also threw two interceptions, including a costly one late in the fourth quarter.

After the game, Cutler acknowledged both interceptions were bad throws on his part, particularly the second one, via ChicagoFootball.com's Kevin Fishbain:

"

Cutler on second INT: "just got away from me. ... High and over the middle is never good and it happened twice today."

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) October 5, 2014"

With the team down 31-24 and just over two minutes remaining on the clock, Cutler failed to get the team into scoring position at the end of the fourth quarter, leaving 670 The Score's Mark Grote to suggest that those situations are exactly why the Bears signed Cutler to a long-term deal this offseason:

"

Jay got paid to win this game

— Mark Grote (@markgrotesports) October 5, 2014"

Cutler has looked like a different quarterback at times this season, but when push comes to shove, he tends to revert back to the quarterback who believes he can make every throw.  

This loss does not fall squarely on Cutler's shoulders, but he was once again unable to overcome adversity and lead his team down the field when it needed him the most.

Grade: C-

Running Back

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

After a dominating performance against the Green Bay Packers last week on the ground, Matt Forte again looked nearly unstoppable at times Sunday afternoon against the Carolina Panthers. 

Forte finished the game with 61 yards rushing on 17 carries and hauled in a career-high 12 passes for 105 yards with one touchdown. Unfortunately for Forte, his stellar performance will be overshadowed by his costly fumble late in the fourth quarter, which set up the game-winning touchdown for the Panthers. 

"

That's Matt Forte's first lost fumble since Week 12 of last season.

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) October 5, 2014"

While the team struggled to gain many yards on the ground against the Panthers' porous run defense, Forte was one of the lone bright spots in the team's passing game.

His 12 targets, 12 catches and 105 yards were all game highs, but he struggled to make much noise in the running game. 

While his numbers are terrific for the day, his costly fumble near the end of the fourth quarter caused his overall grade for the game to be lower than what his production would have suggested it should be. 

Grade: B-

Wide Receiver and Tight End

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Despite having arguably the best wide receiver duo in the league, wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery were targeted just 11 times during Sunday's loss to the Carolina Panthers.

Marshall finished the game with just three catches for 44 yards, while Jeffery finished with six catches for 97 yards, including this nice run and catch for a touchdown in the second quarter:

"

VINE - - Jeffery 25 yd. pass from J.Cutler for the TD #Bears https://t.co/lYAhwC9KQW

— FanSided GIF (@FanSidedGIF) October 5, 2014"

A week after hauling in nine catches for 134 yards, tight end Martellus Bennett was held to just three catches for 17 yards on Sunday afternoon.

Despite a somewhat lackluster afternoon from Jeffery, Marshall and Bennett in the passing game, Marshall and Bennett showed off their ability to make blocks down the field, evident by this tweet from the Chicago Tribune's Dan Wiederer:

"

Superb blocking on that TD toss to Jeffery by Marshall and Bennett. Great play call dialed up there by Trestman.

— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) October 5, 2014"

Tight end Dante Rosario finished the game with three catches for 20 yards, while wide receiver Santonio Holmes finished with one catch for six yards.

In order for the Bears offense to be effective, Marshall, Jeffery and Bennett need to play bigger roles than they did on Sunday. While it is tough to say their ineffectiveness was the result of their own bad play, all three appeared to struggled to get open at times on Sunday afternoon.

Grade: C

Offensive Line

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Following an injury to left tackle Jermon Bushrod earlier in the week, the Bears were forced to start rookie Michael Ola at left tackle Sunday afternoon against the Panthers. With Ola in at left tackle, left guard Matt Slauson returned to the lineup for the first time since injuring his ankle against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1.

Before the game, Michael C. Wright of ESPNChicago.com voiced his concern over an unproven player protecting Jay Cutler's blind side:

"

Michael Ola will slide over to LT and start in Jermon Bushrod's place. It's a tad concerning your blindspot protection is a rookie CFL guy.

— Michael C. Wright (@mikecwright) October 5, 2014"

The offensive line struggled with its new lineup on Sunday afternoon and was called for three false start penalties, via Kevin Fishbain of ChicagoFootball.com:

"

The Bears were called for 3 false starts today. The offense had 8 false starts all of the 2013 season.

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) October 5, 2014"

While Ola and Slauson were struggling at times on the left side, Kyle Long and Jordan Mills did a nice job of opening up running lanes for Matt Forte on the right side of the line.

The offensive line's biggest struggles came when the Panthers got creative with their pressure up front, particularly when utilizing stunts and twists with their defensive linemen and coming with the blitz, via 670TheScore.com's Dan Durkin:

"

Overloaded pressure from the Panthers sped up Cutler's decision making, strong blitz pickup by Forte, nonetheless.

— dan durkin (@djdurkin) October 5, 2014"

"

T-E stunt by the #Panthers, Slauson and Ola couldn't hold their blocks.

— dan durkin (@djdurkin) October 5, 2014"

The offensive line ended up allowing four sacks on Cutler for the day, including the game-clinching sack by Carolina's Kawann Short, via Max Henson of Panthers.com:

"

Kawann Short obliterates Cutler for the sack and forced fumble. Charles Johnson makes the recovery.

— Max Henson (@PanthersMax) October 5, 2014"

The unit as whole gets some credit for surviving with Ola at left tackle, but the offensive line arguably had its worst game of the season on Sunday afternoon.

Grade: D

Defensive Line

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

A week after failing to get much of any pressure on Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, Chicago's defensive line did a better job of getting upfield against Carolina's Cam Newton.

Willie Young and Stephen Paea were both credited with one sack apiece, and the Chicago Tribune's Dan Wiederer believed both were game-changing plays:

"

Both Bears sacks today have been huge plays. Willie Young's created a fumble. Paea's took Panthers out of FG range.

— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) October 5, 2014"

While Young and Paea were able to take Newton down in the backfield, rookie Ego Ferguson did his damage along the line of scrimmage.

Ferguson did a great job all afternoon of getting his hands up when Newton was releasing the football, resulting in two consecutive tipped passes early in the game, via 670TheScore.com's Dan Durkin:

"

Strong series for Ego Ferguson. As you're taught, get your hands up in your pass lanes if your rush doesn't get home. #Bears

— dan durkin (@djdurkin) October 5, 2014"

Ferguson's second tipped pass resulted in an interception by Lance Briggs.

While Young, Paea and Ferguson had strong performances on Sunday, defensive end Lamarr Houston once again had a fairly unnoticeable performance. Other than recovering Newton's fumble on Young's sack, the team's prized free agent from this offseason finished the game with just two tackles.

Jared Allen returned on Sunday after missing Week 4 while recovering from a bout with pneumonia. He led the team with seven total tackles.

The defensive line was not dominant on Sunday afternoon, but it played one of its most complete games of the season. 

Grade: B

Linebacker

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Through the early part of the 2014 season, Lance Briggs has been a model of inconsistency at the linebacker position for the Bears.

Briggs finished the game with four tackles and an interception, but he will mostly be remembered for falling victim to a block by Newton on a reverse in the first half, via SI.com's Aaron Nagler:

"

Cam out here casually destroying linebackers https://t.co/U46DRECOJf

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) October 5, 2014"

In addition to getting slowed down by Newton, he also failed to wrap up the ball-carrier on multiple occasions, via 670 The Score's Dan Durkin and Matt Spiegel:

"

Second time this half Briggs has missed a tackle in the hole.

— dan durkin (@djdurkin) October 5, 2014"

"

Briggs falling off of a running back none of us had heard of until this week.

— Matt Spiegel (@MattSpiegel670) October 5, 2014"

Middle linebacker D.J. Williams made a couple of nice stops against the run but struggled against tight end Greg Olsen in pass coverage throughout the afternoon. Williams finished the game with six tackles.

After a strong start for strong-side linebacker Jon Bostic, his day was cut short after suffering a back injury, via Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times:

"

#Bears LB Jon Bostic didn’t disclose much about his back injury only that he thought he could go back in.

— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) October 5, 2014"

Undrafted rookie Christian Jones replaced Bostic for the remainder of the game and registered one tackle.

On Sunday, the linebacker corps was once again just an average group out on the field. Bostic appeared to be playing well before the injury, and Briggs' interception helped shift the momentum in the first half, but the unit failed to make much of an impact all afternoon.

Grade: C 

Secondary

USA TODAY Sports

A week after struggling against the Green Bay Packers, rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller bounced back with a strong performance Sunday afternoon against Carolina's Kelvin Benjamin.

Benjamin had being playing terrific football for the Panthers, but he was shadowed by Fuller on Sunday afternoon and was virtually shut down, via ChicagoFootball.com's Kevin Fishbain:

"

Bright spot: Kelvin Benjamin held to 3 catches for 38 yards on 11 targets. Kyle Fuller followed him all day long in battle of top rookies.

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) October 5, 2014"

Unfortunately for the Bears, Fuller was one of the lone bright spots in the team's secondary.

Newton completed passes to eight different targets on Sunday afternoon with Olsen finishing as his top receiver with six catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

Early in the first half, the Bears were once again hit by the injury bug in the secondary with Chris Conte suffering his second concussion of the season, via Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times:

"

#Bears safety Chris Conte out with a concussion. Second one this season.

— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) October 5, 2014"

Danny McCray came in for Conte at free safety and was beaten in the end zone by Olsen for a touchdown near the end of the first half, via 670TheScore.com's Dan Durkin:

"

Second time today Greg Olsen has found the endzone against his former team. McCray bit on the outside move, Olsen ran the slant.

— dan durkin (@djdurkin) October 5, 2014"

Since it allowed Newton to push the football down the field in the second half, even with the defensive line getting pressure, the secondary received the worst grade of all the units on defense.

Grade: D

Special Teams

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Chicago's special teams unit has struggled all season long, and Sunday was no exception.

On the Bears' first punt of the afternoon, recently signed cornerback Teddy Williams tackled Carolina's return man before he was able to catch the football. With the ball loose on the field, Carolina's Philly Brown picked up the football and ran it back 81 yards for a touchdown.

"

VIDEO: Panthers' Brown gets laid out, fumbles, then returns punt for TD in strange sequence. http://t.co/oDw4DhNpIu https://t.co/ktztQCh3nK

— theScore (@theScore) October 5, 2014"

After the game, Williams said he has to be aware of where the football is before making the hit, via the Chicago Sun-Times' Patrick Finley:

"

Teddy Williams said #Bears "heard a whistle" on Panthers PR touchdown. As for early hit: "I just have to be more aware of where the ball is"

— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) October 5, 2014"

In addition to Williams' mistake on the punt, the team committed two penalties on special teams, resulting in some questioning Joe DeCamillis' ability to coach special teams, via 670 The Score's Matt Spiegel:

"

Brand new player. But a trend is a trend. The Bears special teams are awful, and dumb. DeCamillis has no control over his troops.

— Matt Spiegel (@MattSpiegel670) October 5, 2014"

To make matters even worse, Robbie Gould missed his first field-goal attempt of the year, via ESPNChicago.com's Jeff Dickerson:

"

Robbie Gould w/a rare miss from 35 yards. #Bears come up empty after long Forte pass play.

— Jeff Dickerson (@ESPNChiBears) October 5, 2014"

After two solid outings from Chicago's special teams in recent weeks, the unit regressed on Sunday afternoon.

Grade: F

Coaching

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Chicago's offense was able to capitalize on Carolina's mistakes in the first half, putting 21 points on the board heading into halftime, but Trestman failed to adjust his game plan in the second half for the second week in a row.

The offense struggled to find a rhythm in the second half, leaving ESPN's Michael Wilbon to question why Trestman couldn't design plays to find Bennett, Marshall or Jeffery in the middle of the field when the team needed to pick up yards:

"

You can't design something for Marshall or Jeffery or Bennett to get FIVE yards in middle of the field? With their size advantages?

— Michael Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) October 5, 2014"

Trestman did take the blame for the team's poor performance after the game, via TheGameChicago.com's Adam Hoge:

"

Marc Trestman: "We didn’t get it done in all three phases and that starts with me.” #Bears

— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) October 5, 2014"

After getting creative with his blitzes in the first half, defensive coordinator Mel Tucker seemed content with dropping back into a vanilla defense in the second half, allowing Newton and Carolina's offense to push the football down the field.

In addition to Trestman's lack of adjustments and Tucker's lack of creativity, DeCamillis' special teams unit again struggled throughout the afternoon.

While players need to go out and execute on a play-by-play basis, Sunday's loss reflects poorly on a coaching staff that struggled with decision-making all afternoon.

Grade: F

Final Grades

USA TODAY Sports

Positional Unit	Overall Grade
QB	C-
RB	B-
WR/TE	C
OL	D
DL	B
LB	C
Secondary	D
Special Teams	F
Coaching	F
Cumulative Grade	D+

For the second week in a row, the Chicago Bears failed to execute in the second half of a football game. After jumping out to a 21-7 lead in the first half, the Carolina Panthers were able to add another touchdown before the end of the first half and outscored the Bears 17-3 in the second half.

Chicago's defense held its own for much of the game, but costly turnovers by Cutler and Forte in the second half forced the defense to remain on the field for extended periods of time.

The Bears will now look toward their Week 6 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday.

Just like Chicago, Atlanta currently sits with a 2-3 record on the season, and both starting quarterbacks are tied for the league lead in interceptions, via Bleacher Report's Zach Kruse:

"

Jay Cutler, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Ryan Fitzpatrick currently lead the NFL in interceptions thrown (6).

— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) October 5, 2014"

Despite having a losing record, the Bears are still in the division hunt with the Detroit Lions dropping to 3-2 on the season after losing to the Buffalo Bills in Week 5.

If the Bears can bounce back against Atlanta, they should be able to remain contenders in the NFC North division.

Record/statistical information provided via email from the Chicago Bears or ESPN.com.

Matt Eurich is an NFL/Chicago Bears Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

Follow @MattEurich