Panthers, Bears battle for their second win - isportsweb.com
The Carolina Panthers will travel to Chicago this weekend looking for their second win of the season. They won a close game last week against the Jaguars in some pretty bad weather conditions, to say the least. If anything, their previous game should help them to play on the Bear's Soldier Field, which has become infamously known for having one of the worst playing surfaces in the league.
Coach Ron Rivera
It will be interesting to see Coach Ron Rivera face off against his former team (Chicago Bears, 2004-'06 defensive coordinator), in what will probably be another tough, grind-it-out type of game for the Panthers, as the Chicago Bears will look to snap their 2-game losing streak. Cam and the Panthers should probably look to throw it a little more in this one as well. The Chicago Bears have been giving up a little over 275 yards per game through the air. Even though that stat should be taken with caution because they have played some top-tier quarterbacks this year-Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees. Two of the three have won super bowls, and all are potential pro-bowlers every year. Carolina still should look to gain yardage with their passing attack because the Bears also have a pretty beaten up secondary. Bears safties Major Wright and Chris Harris are dealing with injuries. Both are probable for Sunday's game and are expected to play.
Needless to say, this will be the Bears easiest game yet. Their competition has been quite stiff up to this point. Chicago will look to capitalize and try to climb up their division standings. The Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions are both undefeated sitting atop the division. The Bears don't want to get too far behind of those teams. They will be looking for a win this Sunday.
The Bears will need to establish their run game, which is second to last in the league, to keep Carolina honest and from coming after Jay Cutler every play, which has certainly been a problem for the Bears. It seems like every other play or so, Cutler is on the ground and trying to shake off another big hit. They should try to give Matt Forte more carries, which he is desperately looking for in the last year of his contract. He definitely will be looking to pound it away at Carolina's defense. This not only makes sense for the Bears to keep Jay Cutler upright but also because of Carolina's run-prone defense. They gave up over 120 yards to Maurice Jones-Drew last week and are near the bottom of the league in stopping the run.
Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers wants to see growth and maturity from their quarterback, Cam Newton. He should not have to put up record-setting numbers against the Bears, if Jonathan Stewart and Deangelo Williams can be effective. The key for the Panthers is to maintain a balanced attack of run and pass while also minimizing mistakes. Too often Carolina gets caught up in having Cam drop back and throw 35 times again. That may work occasionally against weaker defenses but not the Bears. Even though Carolina's running game has not been great, by any standard, they still need to run the ball to keep Julius Peppers and the rest of Chicago's defense off of Cam Newton. If Carolina can sustain the running attack, then it will be that much easier for Cam to settle in the pocket and find openings down the field.
Thus, the chief goal for both of these teams will be trying to find a way to establish their running game, at least enough to keep the opponent's defense from pinning their ears back in full pursuit of the quarterback. This will be a good competition, as both teams will vie for their second win of the season in attempt to become relevant in their division.
30 Sep, 2011--
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