Cairo Santos leads Bears over Panthers in battle of which pick is higher
The Chicago Bears (3-7) took down the Carolina Panthers (1-8) to kick off Week 10 with a final score of 16-13 on Thursday Night. With the win, the Bears are one step closer toward obtaining a top pick in the draft by pushing the Panthers further down the board. In reality, the outcome of this […]
The Chicago Bears (3-7) took down the Carolina Panthers (1-8) to kick off Week 10 with a final score of 16-13 on Thursday Night.
With the win, the Bears are one step closer toward obtaining a top pick in the draft by pushing the Panthers further down the board. In reality, the outcome of this game had no true value other than pride for the Bears.
The game was also another opportunity for rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent to gain more experience in his fourth career start. Bagent managed the Bears offense to close out the win, but the real credit goes out to Bears kicker Cairo Santos.
The Bears mid-season MVP on special teams continued to have another flawless night on Thursday knocking down three field goals and accounting for 10 of the team's 16 points in the win.
Santos hit from 54, 36, and 39 yards out and proved to be a major asset for the Bears. Santos has now drilled 15 of his 16 field goals in 2023 including going 4-4 from 50+ yards out. Usually, it's a boring thing to discuss, but for a game like this, it needs to be done. Kickers occasionally rule and need to have some love sometimes.
The Bears also had a solid game on the ground against the Panthers with running back D'Onta Foreman rushing for 80 yards and one score against his former team. The Bears out-rushed the Panthers 133 to 43 on Thursday in a dominating game in the trenches. Between that and the defense standing tall, the Bears played exactly to their philosophy in Week 10.
Wide receiver DJ Moore put together a decent outing as well against his former team, catching five passes for 58 yards, although he'd probably love to have back one pass that narrowly got away from him that could have been a touchdown.
Bagent finished the game 20-33 passing with 162 yards and had a turnover-free game, which has been his main concern of the past few weeks. It was nice to see Bagent command the home victory in what could be his final start of the season with Justin Fields expected to return next week.
The Bears managed to record three sacks on defense from Yannick Ngakoue, Justin Jones, and Rasheem Green after entering into the week with a league-low 10 sacks on the season.
It wasn't the prettiest game, but it's certainty a morale booster for the Bears while continuing to inch closer towards locking in a top draft pick in April. Win-win indeed.
Bears mid-season MVP for offense, defense, and special teams
Time to give out the awards
