Post-Game Notes on Panthers' 29-34 Loss to Bears

The Panthers lost another close one to the Bears Sunday afternoon and now fall to 1-3 in Cam Newton's rookie season. 

They were without cornerback Chris Gamble and that void ended up affecting the run defense more so than it did to the pass defense. Matt Forte ran easily on this defense and it ended up being too much for the Panthers to overcome. 

Nonetheless, it was an impressive performance by this young team against a very solid group of veterans. If the offense played like it did this week on a more consistent basis, they will win the majority of the time. 

Here are some notes to take away from the game. 

Special Teams

Devin Hester really broke this game open for the Bears. His long kick return and punt return touchdown set the Bears up to take a two score lead in the second quarter. 

With all the injuries to the Panthers' defense, the special teams coverage unit has taken a hit. Many players that would typically be designated as pure special teamers are now being forced to play on both defense and on the coverage team. It was evident that many of these players were gassed and it resulted in some huge plays for the Bears. 

A blocked field goal also contributed to the loss. Olindo Mare booted it too low and former Panther defensive end Julius Peppers was able to come away with the block. Later on, Mare came up about a yard shy on a 52 yard field goal. If either of those two plays could have resulted in points, this would have been a much different game. 

Pass Rushing

The Panthers may have only came away with one sack on the game, but they did get solid pressure on Jay Cutler on multiple occasions. Charles Johnson was the only player to end up with a sack, but Greg Hardy was successful at suffocating Cutler. 

The Bears only passed 17 times and with that being considered, you can't expect to get many sacks, even if you're facing a marginal offensive line such as the Bears'. When the Bears did drop back to pass, they were mostly throwing short outs and screens. 

The only issue here is that in key situations, Cutler had room to throw and was able to pick up some key third downs. Once rookie defensive tackle Terrell McClain gets up to speed, expect to see more of an interior pass rush. 

Cam Newton

Newton played very well, bouncing back from less than great performances in consecutive games against the Packers and Jaguars. The Bears have a solid defense so it was important that Newton get a rhythm going quickly. He did exactly that and hooked up with Steve Smith for almost 200 yards on the day. 

The tight ends also played well and Greg Olsen was the second leading receiver for Carolina. A phantom offensive pass interference call on Jeremy Shockey prevented the tight end duo from producing a touchdown each. 

Newton also contributed heavily in the run game. He did not force the issue and was patient when he scrambled, keeping his eyes down field at all times.

While Newton was unable to lead the team on a game winning drive in the fourth quarter, his play was admirable. Most rookie quarterbacks aren't able to play as well as he did when the pressure is on them to win the game, so my opinion of Cam only improved after this performance. 

Run Game

Heading into the game, there was a lot of questions about the Panthers' run game. In the past few seasons, it had been their strength and they boasted one of the most dangerous running games in the NFL, but Cam Newton was the team's leading rusher through three weeks, which was not a good sign. 

Against the Bears, Carolina came out running and were successful. Deangelo Williams was able to find some holes in the Bears run defense and came away with a few long gains. Jonathan Stewart was equally efficient, picking up over five yards on most occasions, setting the Panthers up with manageable second and third downs. 

However, in the second half, the offensive play calling did not reflect the success that Carolina had running the ball early on. The run game was for the most part abandoned and the game was put in Cam Newton's hands. While Newton played well, it would have been smart for Rod Chudzinski to stick to the running game, especially in the red zone, where Carolina was deficient once again. 

Run Defense

This is the clear weakness of the team. With linebackers Jon Beason and Thomas Davis out of the lineup, the surrounding talent had to step up and replace that production. They were unable to do that against Matt Forte, who had a career game. 

While Dan Connor and James Anderson typically did a solid job of stuffing Forte, Jason Williams and the other replacements at weakside linebacker were eaten up. They took bad angles and allowed Forte to get the edge and pick up huge gains. 

The loss of Chris Gamble hurt as well. Captain Munnerlyn did a terrible job in run support and didn't force Forte to cut it back into the heart of the defense. This allowed the Bears offense to get deep in Carolina territory and ultimately win the battle against the clock in the fourth quarter.