Panthers vs. Bears: Week 5 game thread

The Carolina Panthers look in a very unflattering mirror today as they take on the Chicago Bears on the road. The Bears are a very beatable team on paper. They have a talented offense led by a rookie quarterback who is prone to making mistakes with the volume. Their defense is good, but nothing special.

However, if you look at recent history, you'll see that two teams are in remarkably different places after a blockbuster trade between the two teams just 19 months ago. The Panthers traded a king's ransom to the Bears in exchange for the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Panthers used this to select quarterback Bryce Young.

Since then, the Panthers have benched Young, already fired and hired a new head coach, and are seeing surprising signs of a future under a 36-year-old quarterback prospect. The Bears, meanwhile, still have the same head coach, selected Caleb Williams with the Panthers' 2024 first-round draft pick (who turned out to be first overall in that draft) and have seen Williams as a starter match Young's career win total could only play four games. Williams' 2-2 record is in stark contrast to Young's 2-18.

Get ready for a football game that doesn't match the emotions that Panthers fans bring. Luckily for those of us who also want to see good ball, most of the Panthers' players and coaches weren't included in last year's trade and are just busy proving themselves.

As always, use this space to talk about the action as it unfolds.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread!