The Bears secured a 16-13 victory over the Panthers on Thursday night at Soldier Field, thanks to a stellar defensive performance and a crucial go-ahead touchdown by D’Onta Foreman.
Chicago’s defense put up an impressive display, preventing Carolina from scoring a single touchdown. They allowed only 213 total yards, 12 first downs, and notched three sacks during the game.
D’Onta Foreman played a pivotal role by scoring the sole offensive touchdown of the game on a 4-yard run, granting the Bears a 16-10 lead in the middle of the third quarter.
In the first quarter, the Panthers seized a 7-0 advantage with Ihmir Smith-Marsette’s electrifying 79-yard punt return touchdown. Notably, Smith-Marsette, who had a brief stint with the Bears last season, showcased remarkable skills by evading three tackles on his way to securing his first career return touchdown.
The Bears managed to narrow the deficit to 7-3 following Cairo Santos’ successful 54-yard field goal. It’s worth mentioning that an earlier 49-yard attempt by Santos was nullified due to a false start penalty on Cody Whitehair.
Carolina extended their lead to 10-3 when Eddy Piñeiro executed a 33-yard field goal early in the second quarter. This was set up by Bryce Young’s impressive 45-yard completion to receiver Mike Strachan, advancing the Panthers to the Chicago 26.
Santos responded with two more field goals, one from 36 yards with 3:06 left in the second quarter and another from 39 yards as time expired in the first half. These kicks brought the Bears closer at 10-9, and the second field goal followed a remarkable 70-yard drive engineered by Bagent in just 1 minute and 12 seconds.
The second half began with a strong showing from the Bears’ defense, forcing two consecutive three-and-outs. Following the second one, D’Onta Foreman’s 4-yard touchdown run gave the Bears a 16-10 lead, marking the first offensive touchdown of the game with 6:33 remaining in the third quarter.
The Panthers made a comeback attempt, closing the gap to 16-13 with Piñeiro’s 30-yard field goal at 11:06 in the fourth quarter. This kick came after Kyler Gordon disrupted a crucial third-down pass intended for receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., which would have resulted in a first down.
Earlier in the drive, the Panthers faced a challenging first-and-30 situation after incurring two penalties. However, they managed to sustain the drive when Young completed an 11-yard pass to tight end Tommy Tremble on fourth-and-6 from the Bears’ 36.
In a last-ditch effort to tie the game, Piñeiro attempted a 59-yard field goal, but it fell significantly short with 1:35 remaining. The attempt came on fourth-and-10 from the Bears’ 41.
With this hard-fought victory, the Bears improved their season record to 3-7, showing significant progress since their challenging 0-4 start.