Caleb Williams-DJ Moore connection will be the main story of the Bears-Panthers Week 5 matchup with no Bryce Young
On March 10, 2023, the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers agreed to a league-shattering trade that will be back under the spotlight in Week 5.Sunday's game between the Bears and Panthers at Solider Field will be the second meeting between the two sides since the trade that affected both organizations for years to come.In […]
On March 10, 2023, the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers agreed to a league-shattering trade that will be back under the spotlight in Week 5.
Sunday's game between the Bears and Panthers at Solider Field will be the second meeting between the two sides since the trade that affected both organizations for years to come.
In that trade, the Bears sent the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to the Panthers in exchange for the ninth overall pick in 2023, the first overall pick in 2024, a second-round pick in 2023, a second-round pick in 2025 and star receiver DJ Moore.
With that first overall pick, the Panthers selected Alabama quarterback Bryce Young with hopes he would become the team's franchise quarterback. After two games in his second season, Young was sent to the bench with former Bears quarterback Andy Dalton taking his place as the team's starter.
Dalton will be facing off against the Bears' rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, who become the first No. 1 overall pick to win each of his first two home starts in Week 4.
With Young off the field, the story of the game will instead be what could have been for the Panthers, and that's the connection between Williams and Moore.
After spending his first five NFL seasons in Carolina, Moore put together a career year in his first season in Chicago. Sunday's game will be the second time Moore will face his former team. When asked about facing his former team again, Moore noted that it's nothing special this time around, but we all know that isn't true.
In that first matchup, Moore had just five receptions for 58 yards. An average game by his standards, and certainly not the outcome he was hoping for in his revenge game. This time around, he's got a new quarterback and the connection is starting to look a lot more polished going into Week 5.
"It's just going out there and trusting it," Moore said on Wednesday.
The first touchdown connection between the two last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams showed that trust keeps getting better.
Williams and Moore won't be the only ones on the field who's future was decided by the trade back in 2023. The trade also resulted in Chicago coming away with cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (who has been named as a Defensive Player of the Week twice in two seasons), punter Tory Taylor (Week 4's Special Teams Player of the Week), and starting right tackle Darnell Wright.
With another Panthers pick still coming up for the Bears in the 2025 draft, that trade was truly the gift that keeps on giving for Chicago and these five players will be looking to stick it to Carolina even more on Sunday.
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