Which Chicago Bears were winners in Week 10 vs. Panthers?

The Chicago Bears did ultimately take care of business at home on the national stage against the lowly Carolina Panthers on Thursday Night Football. Yes, they won a football game, and it is important to give credit where it is due, but it was a very ugly win that easily could have gone the other way if not for a few plays.
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Chicago Bears, Braxton Jones
Chicago Bears, Braxton Jones / Kevin Sabitus/GettyImages

Chicago Bears Week 10 Winner No. 3: Braxton Jones

Say what you want about Braxton Jones and his penalties, but he is quite the pass blocker. If Jones did not have those one or two plays in a game where he gets beat badly, I think Bears fans would be a lot higher on him. Still, he has made a difference in how the offensive line plays since he has returned from IR. He has taken a step in his ability to protect from the blind side, and it will be even more evident with the return of Justin Fields at the helm.

This has been a very interesting year for Jones. He started with a lot of hype and high expectations in his second year after he had such a good rookie campaign. Out of the gate, he did not look so great. While his blocking was not perfect, he was having more of a problem with penalties, both false starts and holds. Then he goes down with a bad neck injury and misses over five weeks of action. When he came back last week, he got rotated in and out and missed some key plays in the final stretch led to Larry Borom getting beat by the Saints in the clutch.

Finally fully healthy and solidified as the left tackle again, Braxton Jones had himself a night against the Panthers. He had 37 snaps as a pass blocker. He allowed only two pressures and no sacks, per PFF. They gave him a pass block grade of 87.9, which led the team. While PFF grades are to be taken with a grain of salt, it does give insight into how good of a game he had. It is important to note that Jones also did not have a penalty in this game, which is a very good sign.

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The Chicago Bears rode their defense to a victory on a night where every yard seemed valuable. Their offense did just enough behind a good rushing attack from D'Onta Foreman to outscore the Panthers, and the defense took care of the rest. The talk in the locker room was about stacking wins, so now the Bears need to go out and get another one. They will have a week and a half to prepare for the new division powerhouse in Detroit.