To open up his press conference on Friday, head coach Matt Eberflus announced an interesting statistic the Bears rewrote from their win over the Panthers on Thursday night.
For the first time since 1998, the Bears didn't allow any sacks, turnovers, or offensive touchdowns to their opponents. Indeed, Tyson Bagent went untouched against the Panthers as the Bears remained perfect with protecting the ball. And, most notably, they didn't allow the Panthers to score an offensive touchdown once.
Instead, the Panthers had to settle for two field goals and a punt return touchdown to help keep them in the game. The Bears, on the other hand, hadn't had a punt returned for a touchdown against them since 2017.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
For a Bears defense that hasn't been spectacular this season (sixth-worst 25.5 points allowed per game), they proved differently on Thursday night against a putrid Panthers team. They held Bryce Young to under 200 yards passing and zero touchdowns. They also kept the Panthers to 43 yards rushing.
The Panthers finished 3-of-15 on converting third downs; though, they were able to notch all three fourth-down attempts they executed against the Bears. The Panthers' offense averaged a paltry 3.7 yards per play from the 57 plays they ran against the Bears, too.
All-in-all it was a solid evening for the Bears' defense, highlighted by their newest addition: Montez Sweat. He finished with eight pressures, the most by a single Bears player since Robert Quinn in 2020. He has 54 pressures on the season, the fifth-most in the NFL.
As for the Panthers' offense, they weren't content with how the game unfolded. So much so, that wide receiver Adam Thielen let it all out during his postgame media session, calling their effort "embarrassing."
Bears News
"We're just not hitting on all cylinders right now. We're not hitting on any cylinders," Thielen said via Panthers.com. "It's an embarrassing effort. I think everyone's just embarrassed, you know, put up what, six points on offense.
"Like, we didn't do anything. That's embarrassing when your defense is playing the way they're playing, especially the way they're playing. It's embarrassing. And like we talked about, we're putting in good practices. We're doing the right things; building the momentum that way, but it's just not translating. That's tough."
Not only did the Bears get the win --- improving their record to 3-7 this season --- but they also improved their draft stock by boosting the Panthers 2024 first-round pick, which they acquired last offseason. They now have the No. 1 and No. 5 picks in the next NFL draft.
It was a solid evening for the Bears, despite the slop fest on both ends of the ball. Either way, they got it done. With some extended time off from their "mini bye," they'll gear up to play the Detroit Lions on the road in Week 11.