Bless the Panthers. Not only did they trade the Bears a franchise-changing haul in order to make one of the worst decisions in the history of their franchise, but then they showed up in Chicago on Sunday to let the Bears show everyone just how great said trade is working out for them. There's something equally funny and sad about Caleb Williams and DJ Moore having breakout games against the team that willingly passed on the opportunity to keep them.
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But things couldn't have gone better for the Bears on Sunday. The offense scored 30 (!) points, Caleb Williams had his best game since last week – when he had his best game since the week before – and the defense continued to look like one of the league's best. This is probably the easiest month of games on the Bears' schedule, and they're off to an encouraging start. Here are winners and losers from their 36-10 win.
Winners and losers from the Bears Week 5 win over the Panthers
Winners
1. Caleb Williams
It's hard to say Williams had his breakout game considering who they were playing, but the way that he continually passes the eye test more and more on a weekly basis is so impressive. You can see his confidence grow by the game, and Week 5 was no different – he finished with over 300 passing yards, threw multiple touchdowns, and was safe/efficient with the ball. The Bears clearly trust him to change plays and protection from the line, and from a pure quarterbacking perspective, his second touchdown pass to DJ Moore was one of the more impressive individual plays he's made all year. If you want to reserve judgement until he puts up those stats against literally anyone beside the Carolina Panthers, that's probably fair. But he's for real.
2. DJ Moore
It's fitting that Moore's first huge game of the year came against the team that traded him away for a quarterback they're no longer starting. Moore was the topic of a lot of midweek conversation in Chicago – he's been visibly frustrated at times this year, which isn't all that surprising considering how confusing his role in Shane Waldron's offense has been so far. He finally had his first WR1 Game of the year – 5 catches, 105 yards, two touchdowns – and as it turns out, the Bears' offense looks a lot more comfortable and efficient when they're letting him do what he does well. Weird!
3. Gervon Dexter Jr.
Remember when the Bears' pass rush was a major point of concern? I wonder how smug Ryan Poles is in private about how good Dexter – along with Andrew Billings – have been so far. Dexter was in Andy Dalton's face all day (one sack, three QB hits) and is averaging a sack per game through the first five weeks of the year. The Panthers' offensive line is quietly very good, which makes what the Bears did on Sunday even more impressive. Despite appearing in all 17 games last year, Dexter's already setting career-highs in basically every stat across the board. The Bears may have found A Guy.
Losers
1. Nate Davis
What a disaster Davis' time in Chicago has been. He was supposed to be the guy for them at guard, and his two seasons with the Bears have gone terribly in just about every single way. Case in point: when starting guard Teven Jenkins went down with an injury, the Bears decided to put Bill Murray in for him and leave Davis – who, keep in mind, isn't hurt – on the bench. The vibes have been off since basically the start of training camp, and it doesn't feel like they're going to get better any time soon. It certainly feels like there are some healthy inactive designations coming Davis' way this season.
2. Teven Jenkins
Jenkins hasn't had the year that everyone expected, and any chance of a mid-season extention is probably gone. It's a shame that he can't stay healthy – his play has been inconsistent this year, but he's still young and has flashed plenty of times throughout his Bears career. He left Sunday's game with what the Bears called an ankle injury, and then was ruled out for the rest of it a few minutes after; it was the second time in two weeks that he's left in the middle of a game with an injury. If you can't tell, the Bears have some interior line issues they've gotta figure out.