The Bears last played the Panthers in 2020.
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images
The Sun-Times’ experts offer their picks for the Bears’ “Thursday Night Football” game against Carolina:
Bears, 17-14: The winner is the loser in this game, right? Two bad teams fighting for 2024 draft position? This has “Bears” written all over it. Season: 7-2.
Bears, 23-20: Being at home should mean something to the Bears in this battle of bad vs. worse. Just the desire to avoid being booed should be worth a point or two. Season: 5-4.
Bears, 27-16: Catching a bad team on a short week with a depleted, injury-riddled defense is just the gift the Bears need to say, “Yo, at least we’re better than them!” and feel proud about it. Season: 5-4.
Panthers, 24-23 (OT): It’s been hard to trust the Bears to do anything right this season — and the draft implications of beating the Panthers are the highest stakes they’ll play for all year. Plus, the wrong team wins on Thursdays all the time. Season: 7-2.
Bears, 23-11: The Panthers are worse across the board, and the Bears have no excuse for whiffing on the closest thing they’ll have to a gimme all season. Season: 4-5.
Bears, 23-16: Whether Justin Fields or Tyson Bagent starts should matter more than it actually does. But either way, the Bears are motivated on multiple levels against a beatable opponent with a rookie quarterback at home on a short week. Season: 4-5.
