Bears look to rebound as Panthers still look for their first win: Bears vs. Panthers preview
The Chicago Bears will look to bounce back after an embarrassing performance in the Meadowlands last Sunday night. The Bears allowed 10 sacks as Jay Cutler left the game with a concussion. The Carolina Panthers are still win-less at 0-4 but came very close
to a huge upset last week over the New Orleans Saints, losing 16-14.
The Panthers' offence has been atrocious, ranking 30th in the league in total yards per game with 258, and they are dead last in the league averaging 11.5 points per game. Rookie Jimmy Clausen will get the start Sunday after showing some improvement last week
in which he nearly led his team to a huge victory in the Superdome. His job will be even more difficult though as his go-to target Steve Smith is out with a high-ankle sprain. The Panthers’ passing game has not gotten going and it likely won’t get going this
week.
Carolina will again try to win with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart being the spark. Defences have keyed in on this great duo though, which has made the offence’s life difficult, as their running game is the most dangerous part of their attack. It’s
their only shot this week of knocking off the 3-1 Bears.
An interesting storyline will be Julius Peppers making his return to Carolina after an ugly departure with the organization. Peppers will look to get to Clausen often but his focus will have to be on the running game. The Bears have been stingy against the
run, as they are ranked sixth in the league allowing just 77 yards per game. That works out fine when they’re facing a team relying so much on their ground game. Chicago has also allowed just 17 points per game and the Panthers are really struggling to score.
It’s no secret that the Bears will have to do a better job of protecting Cutler. The flaws of Mike Martz’s offensive system were exposed last week when the protection completely broke down and Cutler took a beating. The no-name defence of Carolina will look
to give Cutler problems as they gave Drew Brees and company a lot of trouble last week, forcing three fumbles.
Cutler will have to get Matt Forte involved if the passing game will get going. Don’t expect the Bears to run the ball much and expect a lot more throws form Cutler. Cutler has to avoid turnovers as he’s done pretty well so far this season. Throwing interceptions
will allow the Panthers to get good field position and the best way to stop an ineffective offence is to push them deep. Punting to the Panthers isn’t the worst thing to do.
As important as it is for the Bears to avoid turnovers, it’s that crucial for the Panthers to force them. The Carolina defence has played well enough to give them a chance to win, but they’ll need to force turnovers so the offence can at least start off in
good field position. That will give them a chance to finally start scoring some points, which is by far their biggest problem so far.
Expect a tight defensive struggle between these two teams and for the Panthers to hang with the Bears. Carolina still has the ability to shock some teams, and if the Bears’ pass protection does not correct their issues, the Panthers may very well have their
first win.
Tags: