Caleb Williams threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns in his best performance to date, DJ Moore caught both scoring passes and had 105 yards receiving against his former team, and the Chicago Bears beat the Carolina Panthers 36-10 on Sunday.
Williams found Moore wide-open on a crossing pattern early in the game for a 34-yard touchdown. From there, just about everything else looked easy, too.
The Bears (3-2) won their second straight after dropping two in a row, with the two key pieces they acquired as a result of a blockbuster trade with Carolina in 2023 leading the way.
Chicago also got a big performance for the second straight week from D’Andre Swift. He had 120 yards from scrimmage and a TD.
Swift ran for 73 yards and a touchdown and added 47 yards receiving after picking up 165 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown the previous week against the Los Angeles Rams.
Roschon Johnson ran for two touchdowns, including one in the fourth quarter that was followed by a skirmish in the end zone and ejections for Chicago’s Matt Pryor and Carolina’s Jaycee Horn. The Bears then went for a 2-point conversion, and the pass failed.
Kevin Byard got his 29th career interception. Gervon Dexter had a sack and a fumble recovery.
The Bears extended the longest current home winning streak in the NFL to eight games. It’s their best stretch at Soldier Field since they won 10 in a row from the 2005 to 2006 seasons.
Andy Dalton had a rough outing in his third start since Carolina (1-4) benched last year’s No. 1 pick Bryce Young. The veteran was 18 of 28 for 136 yards with an interception and got sacked three times.
Young replaced him in the closing minutes and was 4 of 7 for 58 yards and got sacked once. But Canales said Dalton will start next week against Atlanta.
Chuba Hubbard ran for 97 yards and a touchdown after going for a combined 218 yards in the previous two weeks. He gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter when he broke through a hole and went 38 yards for a touchdown, but it was all Bears after that.
Chicago scored touchdowns on its next two possessions, including its first in an opening quarter this season when Williams found Moore wide open that 34-yarder.
Former Bulls star Derrick Rose got a huge ovation when he was shown on the videoboard before the second quarter. Chants of “MVP! MVP!” rang through Soldier Field for the recently retired point guard from Chicago.
The Bears gave their fans more to cheer on their next possession when they went 80 yards for a TD, with Johnson scoring from the 1 to make it 14-7, and they kept rolling from there.
Bears LG Teven Jenkins, who was questionable with a rib issue, left with an ankle injury.
The Bears play Jacksonville in London next Sunday.
