Grading Panthers’ horrendous performance in laughable lopsided loss to Bears, DJ Moore

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The good vibes of the past two weeks are gone. And the bleakness of the early days of the campaign are back for the Carolina Panthers.

On Sunday, against the Chicago Bears, pretty much everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong for Carolina. From glaring play-calling miscues to consistently poor execution by the players, the Dave Canales-fronted franchise looked lost in a 36-10 blowout defeat at Solider Field.

Veteran QB Andy Dalton couldn’t overcome the errors of his receivers, and the gunslinger made quite a few mistakes of his own. The defense was porous on the ground and through the air. Also, injuries piled up on both sides of the ball, and the fill-in talent left a lot to be desired in relief.

Canales, though, probably was the biggest letdown of the bunch. His play-calling, while interesting before the snap, seemed to have little rhythm, rhyme and/or reason. When the Panthers were averaging 7.5 yards per carry, Canales got away from the run to make way for a lame passing attack that averaged just over 2 yards per attempt throughout most of the first half.

The Bears, who have unequivocally won last year’s blockbuster draft trade with the Panthers before its completion, ran over all over the Panthers, both physically and metaphorically, on Sunday. Even with rookie QB Caleb Williams having early struggles for Chicago, the signal-caller dominated Carolina through the air. To make matters even more complicated, Williams also extended plays and picked up first downs with his legs as well.

With Bryce Young, benched last month for Dalton, standing on the sideline, the Panthers furthered the point that everything that happened last offseason was a mistake. And now, owner David Tepper is hoping that he didn’t keep the streak alive into 2024, where the Panthers are 1-4 and still seeking answers about their first-year head coach and badly beaten-up roster created by a new general manager with ties to the old guard.

Here is how each unit graded out in the blowout loss:

Andy Dalton, Panthers pass offense vs. Bears

Dalton and the passing game were largely mitigated by Canales’ play-calling and the Bears’ defense in the first quarter. During the first three series, Dalton completed four of five passes for just 6 yards, as the running game handled the load, including a second-drive rushing touchdown.

The passing game also provided the first turnover of the day. Dalton completed a third-down pass to tight end Tommy Tremble for 9 yards, but the playmaker ran straight into a heavy hit by Bears safety Jaquan Brisker. Tremble ultimately fumbled the ball upon initial contact, and the Bears were able to pick up the recovery. Tremble (concussion) was also injured on the play.

A 31-yard pass to rookie wideout Jalen Coker set the Panthers up for a 45-yard field goal try as the team trailed by 20 in the closing seconds of the second quarter. The big play was Coker’s first NFL catch and the biggest passing play of the first half for the Panthers. Unfortunately, the field-goal attempt was off the mark.

Dalton finished the first half with 74 passing yards and an interception after completing 12 of 16 passes. The Panthers failed to convert on all six of their third-down opportunities in the first half.

Following halftime, Tremble was ruled out for the remainder of the game. Right tackle Taylor Moton (elbow) was replaced by swing tackle Yosh Nijman, while wideout Xavier Legette nursed a shoulder injury on the sideline. So, the passing game, already missing Adam Thielen (hamstring), was dealing with a makeshift lineup in the second half.

Dalton and the passing game’s struggles, predictably, snowballed in the second half. Dalton launched a rocket down the field for wideout Jonathan Mingo, and the wide receiver lost track of the ball while facing physical coverage from safety Kevin Byard, who picked off the pass. Mingo didn’t even attempt to fight for the ball.

Throughout the rest of the second half, Dalton and company struggled to regain their footing. While the Panthers decided running the ball would actually help the offense, Dalton was forced to throw and throw some more.

Ultimately, Dalton completed 18 of 28 passes for 136 yards and an interception. He led just two scoring drives and had a passer rating of 61.0. Mingo was Dalton’s top target, as he hauled in two passes for 37 yards on five targets.

Dalton was forced to overcome miscues from multiple weapons and several injuries on his side of the ball. Top wideout Diontae Johnson had a largely listless performance with three catches for 23 yards on six targets.

Young came into the game with a little more than four minutes to relieve Dalton. He completed four of seven passes for 58 yards against soft coverage. Young’s top target was Coker, who caught four passes for 68 yards.

Grade: F

Chuba Hubbard, run offense vs. Chicago

The Panthers decided to mix things up on the ground to begin the matchup. While Chuba Hubbard got the first carry of the game, a 5-yard tote, Canales used his wideouts to pick up yardage as ball-carriers as well.

During the second series of the game, Johnson — the team’s top wideout — carried the ball twice for 6 yards. Johnson, a speedster, picked up a crucial fourth-down conversion on an end-around gain of 4 yards. That conversion led to a 38-yard rushing touchdown for Hubbard, which was his third overall score of the season.

Hubbard’s success on the ground was somewhat forgotten as the Panthers’ point deficit grew in the second quarter. The Panthers averaged 7.5 yards per carry on the ground, but that output didn’t seem to adjust Canales’ play-calling.

Hubbard finished the first half with six carries for 64 yards (10.7 yards per carry) and a touchdown.

With running game being the Panthers’ only safe haven on offense, Hubbard got some second-half carries. While the deficit hurt his production, Hubbard still finished with 13 carries for 97 yards (7.5 YPC) and a touchdown.

The Panthers moving away from the running game early, despite the deficit, was a mistake because the passing game couldn’t do anything for the majority of the game. The entire unit had 120 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

Grade: B

Jaycee Horn, pass defense vs. Bears

Following a three-and-out by the offense to start the game, cornerback Jaycee Horn and pass rusher Charles Harris gave the Bears a taste of their own medicine.

QB Williams started the game with an off-the-mark throw to wideout Keenan Allen, and Horn got his hands on the ball for a near-pick-six. Allen was able to knock the ball incomplete, but Horn made a great play on the ball. After 3-yard run by D’Andre Swift, the Bears found themselves in a third-and-long look, and Harris sacked Williams after coverage held the Chicago receivers in check.

It was an outstanding start for the banged-up defense, which was missing Derrick Brown, Shaq Thompson and Josey Jewell due to injury.

However, the next series provided opposite results. Former Panthers receiver D.J. Moore was able to break free from Horn’s coverage with a rub route, and the Pro Bowl wide receiver hauled in a 34-yard touchdown catch with little to stop him from reaching the end zone. Williams essentially found Moore streaking across the field with nothing in front of him for the easy score. Williams was completed all three of his passes for 48 yards and a touchdown on the drive.

Moore and Williams continued to give the Panthers’ problems through the air. A scramble by Williams led to a coverage break down for the Panthers, and Moore was able to pick up 23 yards on a catch-and-run opportunity toward the end of the first quarter.

Swift took advantage of the Panthers’ tackling woes toward the end of the first half. Williams tossed a screen pass to Swift, who had blockers in front of him, and took the ball 42 yards to the cusp of the end zone. It was the biggest play of the day to that position. Pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney (shoulder) was injured on the play as well.

Williams continued to go to the air at the end of the second quarter. Tight end Cole Kmet broke free from nickel corner Troy Hill for a 25-yard pickup to get Chicago in Carolina territory with less than a minute before halftime. Williams then hit Moore for a 30-yard touchdown pass, with cornerback Mike Jackson in single coverage, to put the Bears up by three scores at halftime.

Williams finished the first half with 200 passing yards and two touchdowns on a 73.3% completion percentage. He had a 154.9 passer rating in the first two quarters.

Despite being up by 20 points, the Bears continued to fire it in the air in the second half. Williams completed seven consecutive passes at one point, and picked up big gains on throws to Moore and Allen to begin the third quarter. Those plays puts the Bears into the red zone and Chicago capitalized with a field goal.

With a big lead, Williams mostly got to lean on his run game throughout the rest of the second half. Still, he finished with 304 passing yards and two touchdowns. Williams had a 126.2 passer rating after completing 20 of 29 passes in the game.

Moore finished with five catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Kmet closed out with three catches for 57 yards.

Grade: F

Trevin Wallace, run defense vs. Chicago

The Panthers’ run defense is a consistent weak point for Carolina. On Sunday, it lived up its billing, giving up 97 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries (4.0 yards per carry) in the first half.

Swift picked up big chunks of yardage early and kept on mowing. Williams, the athletic QB for the Bears, also kept plenty of plays alive with his scrambling ability. Williams, along with leveraging opportunities inside and outside the pocket, picked up 13 yards on three carries in the first half. He picked up two first downs on the ground in the first two quarters.

Roschon Johnson gave the Bears their first lead of the game on a 1-yard plunge in the end zone with 10:44 left in the first half.

Rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace, making his first career start, made a pair of back-to-back stops to force the Bears off the field in the second quarter. With the Panthers’ run defense reeling, the Bears went to the ground on third down, and Wallace stopped Johnson a yard away from the conversion line. Chicago then doubled down on the run game on fourth-and-1, and Wallace was there (again) to stop Johnson’s progress before the line to gain. The consecutive stops gave the offense the ball back at the Carolina 39-yard line.

Swift, though, capped the Bears’ penultimate series of the first half with a 1-yard touchdown. It was a brilliant first half for Swift on the ground and in the air. Swift had 67 rushing yards and a touchdown to go along with 42 receiving yards in the first half.

After some big plays in the passing game to start the third quarter, Williams and Swift took turns pickup big plays with their legs. Chicago eventually scored, again, with a 33-yard field goal.

The Bears had a 20-point lead throughout the majority of the second half. Swift finished with 21 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. Johnson added 25 rushing yards and two touchdowns as well.

To add insult to butt-kicking, Horn got ejected from the game after getting physical with linemen after Johnson’s second score in the fourth quarter.

Grade: D

Eddy Piñeiro, special teams vs. Bears

The special teams unit got off to a nice start on Sunday. Punter Johnny Hekker position a 47-yard punt within the 20-yard line after the opening series, running back Raheem Blackshear picked up 11 yards on a punt return, and kicker Eddy Piñeiro made his initial extra-point attempt — all within the first six minutes of the game.

Blackshear had a pair of strong kickoff returns in the second quarter. He picked up 29 yards on first return of the game and then picked up a season-high 43 yards on the second return of the game.

But after making his first six field-goal attempts of the season, Piñeiro went wide left on his 45-yard field goal try in the second quarter. Piñeiro, though, was able to rebound with 27-yard chip-shot field goal in the third quarter.

Hekker punted four times for an average of 51.5 yards per attempt.

Grade: C

Overall grade vs. Chicago

The Panthers’ running game is the only thing that can save this performance from all-around “F” status.

Hubbard looked like Daniel Day-Lewis surrounded by the cast of “The Bachelor” on offense with his output. And that performance really makes the play-calling’s lack of vision stick out. The performance of the other players, especially on offense, highlighted the one-note nature of the talent in Chicago.

The defense looks overmatched on a weekly basis. The Panthers are banged-up pretty bad on that side of the ball, but the tackling ability and overall awareness of the defense has looked terrible for all but one game in Las Vegas. The unit is devoid of talent and tenacity through five weeks.

There is no question that the current brain trust is paying for the sins of the organization’s past. But through five games, it’s hard to understand what the Panthers’ new identity is. So far, it feels like more of the same — small pockets of progress with a smothering of pitfalls.

Overall grade: D-