Bears vs. Panthers game picks: Can Chicago build a winning streak?

The Chicago Bears (2-2) will battle the Carolina Panthers (1-3) in Week 4, where Chicago is looking to stack back-to-back wins for their first winning streak of the season.

Chicago is coming off a 24-18 win over the Los Angeles Rams (1-3), where all three phases played a role in the win. The defense continued its dominant effort, holding their opponent to 21 or fewer points in their 10th consecutive game and coming away with some timely takeaways. The Bears offense appeared to find its identity with an impressive performance on the ground, led by D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson, while rookie Caleb Williams continued to make strides. Even rookie punter Tory Taylor played a part with two late fourth-quarter punts that pinned Los Angeles deep.

Heading into this Week 5 matchup, the Bears have a chance to extend their home winning streak to eight games while building their first winning streak of the 2024 NFL season. But can they get it done? Our Bears Wire staff share their game picks for Sunday's matchup.

Alyssa Barbieri (2-2): Bears 24, Panthers 16

This game doesn’t look as easy as it did a few weeks ago back when Bryce Young was the starting quarterback, especially with Andy Dalton and co. averaging 30 points per game in the last two weeks. But Dalton hasn’t faced a defense like Chicago’s yet this season, and there will be opportunities to force him into the mistakes that have helped the defense have their hand in a victory. The biggest challenge for the Bears defense will be containing Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard, who has eclipsed 100 rushing yards in back-to-back games. But if Chicago's defense can do what they did against the Rams -- keep the Panthers out of the end zone -- they'll set the Bears up for another victory.

But Chicago's offense is going to need to do its part. After an encouraging outing last week, the Bears offense has a chance to take another step forward against a Panthers defense that’s struggled against the run but also in the passing game allowing nine passing touchdowns in four games. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams continues to improve with each passing game, and he's starting to establish a rapport with his weapons, DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. We'll see if D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson can once again find success on the ground against Carolina's 29th-ranked run defense. This might be another close one, but I’m picking Chicago to pull this out to keep that home win streak rolling.

Brendan Sugrue (2-2): Bears 27, Panthers 19

This game preview would look a lot different had the Panthers just stuck with Bryce Young, but even with an improved passing attack under Andy Dalton, they’re still a beatable team that is coming into Chicago at the right time. The Bears have had some good football luck in recent weeks, with the Rams missing two of their best playmakers. Now, the Panthers are also dealing with a number of injuries—including losing their top tackler Shaq Thompson for the season. As many as 19 players were on the injury report Thursday, which could impact Sunday’s game.

For the players on the field, though, it’s been a rough year. The Panthers defense is one of the worst in the league, allowing 32.3 points per game—worst in the league. They’re tied with two teams with the fewest sacks in the league (five) and allow the fifth-highest passer rating to opposing quarterbacks. In other words, this is another golden opportunity for Caleb Williams to shine. He can build off what he did last week and continue to stack solid performances on top of one another.

For the Bears defense, Dalton is a step up from Young, but he’s not a world beater by any means. He came back down to earth last week with a pair of touchdowns and one interception for a passer rating of 83.3. That won’t be good enough against the Bears secondary. It will likely be a closer game than what people want to see for much of the day, but Chicago has done well in the fourth quarter and will once again close this one out late.

Lucas Hunt (2-2): Bears 30, Panthers 17

The Bears are rounding into form at just the right time, and Sunday’s game provides a great opportunity for the club to change the trajectory of their season and get to a winning record. Week 5 is the first time all season that I’ve felt confident in picking the Bears to win a football game, and they’ll turn heads through their winning effort, scoring 30 points for the first time in 2024.

The two franchises are on completely different ends of organizational development, with the Bears ascending with their young core and the Panthers enduring the blowback from banking their future on 2023 first overall selection QB Bryce Young, who’s lack of improvement from year one to year two now has him backing up veteran passer Andy Dalton. Their organization’s dysfunction is reflected in their poor play on the field, and Chicago is in a good position to take advantage of that flaw, now that they’ve begun to fix their own bad habits. The Bears’ talent as a whole largely outclasses the Panthers, so execution on the field is what will be the deciding factor.

I think the Bears get off to a fast start and never look back. The offense will take another crucial step into being a lethal element of the team, with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron continuing to carve out their newfound identity as a balanced unit that wears defenses down with the run and pass. Williams will continue to play well, this time pairing his impressive discipline with taking what the defense gives with also stretching the field, getting big chunk plays through the air. The ground game will continue to be impactful, with D’Andre Swift putting together another rushing clinic, with Roschon Johnson spelling Swift by grinding out tough yards. I have no reason to believe the defense will be anything less than stellar, as they have been all season.

Overall, Carolina doesn’t measure up in talent and their execution isn’t so well-refined that they won’t make mistakes. The Bears take care of business and completely change the tides of their year by going a promising 3-2.

Vinnie Parise (1-3): Bears 24, Panthers 14

The Chicago Bears have playoff aspirations. If they plan on doing that in this very difficult NFC North, they must be able to beat teams like the Carolina Panthers.

Of course, the Panthers are the reason that the Bears have Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, and Darnell Wright amongst others. Don’t think the Panthers are not going to be tired of hearing that by Sunday, especially since their guy that they got out of it, Bryce Young, is on the bench in favor of former Bears QB Andy Dalton.

This is a great opportunity for the offense to score some points against a lousy defense and an opportunity for the Chicago defense to continue their dominance. This should be a quality win for them all around.

Mike Pendleton (3-1): Bears 30, Panthers 10

Last week, I thought the Los Angeles Rams’ defense was vulnerable enough to give up the most points to the Bears growing offense, but their high is still 24 through four weeks. The first half, first quarter even more specifically was filled with pre-snap penalties and undisciplined play, but there was growth in both the pass and run games.

If the discipline is better against Carolina, there should be a rhythm that could be seen throughout the entire game, all four quarters. Caleb Williams, D’Andre Swift, and most of the offense is riding momentum, if the offensive line gets better, it could lead to the best game of the season so far.

High hopes on the offense don’t always come to fruition, so with the Bears back on home soil for the second straight week, they’ll have the crowd and defense to support them. The Bears defense has held the last 10 opponents to 21 points or less, and the Carolina Panthers haven’t shown much to be concerned about. Chuba Hubbard is likely their best offensive player, and Andy Dalton is a veteran, but nothing that should be overly threatening to the Bears. This game, just as the Rams game did last week, serves as an opportunity for the Bears to put on their best performance of the season.

Preston Comer (2-2): Bears 27 Panthers 13

I would think a lot differently about this game if Andy Dalton wasn’t behind center for the Panthers right now. The Panthers’ offense has looked a lot more productive and even Chuba Hubbard has gotten the run game to establish. I have no doubt that the Bears’ defense can stop the Panthers through the air, but they can’t let Hubbard run all over them.

This is another opportunity at home for the Bears offense to gain some momentum on a struggling defense. The Panthers are giving up 32.3 points per game. If Williams can build off of last week and hone in on his deep ball, then this should be a comfortable Week 5 win for Chicago.

This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears vs. Panthers game picks: Can Chicago build a winning streak?