The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘Win ugly’: Foles, stingy defense lead Bears past Panthers
CHARLOTTE,N.C.— Bears coach Matt Nagy has found plenty to criticize about his team this season, even though Chicago keeps winning. On Sunday, Nagy went out of his way to give credit where it was due.
“Hey, our defense played lights out today,” Nagy said. “They played awesome against a good offense.”
Nick Foles threw for one touchdown and ran for another, Chicago’s defense forced three turnovers and sacked Teddy Bridgewater four times and the Bears held on to beat the Carolina Panthers 23-16 on Sunday. Once again, the Bears’ 27th-ranked offense was just good enough to win.
Foles finished with 198 yards passing and a touchdown and David Montgomery added 58 yards on the ground as the Bears (5-1) opened the season 3-0 on the road for the first time since 2006, when they reached the Super Bowl.
It wasn’t pretty, for sure, but Chicago improved to 2-1 with Foles as the starter. The 2018 Super Bowl MVP also rallied the Bears past the Falcons when Nagy benched Mitchell Trubisky in Week 3.
“Would you rather lose pretty or win ugly? I think that we’d rather win ugly,” Foles said. “We want to improve. We want to get better. We want to have rhythm. But ultimately in the NFL it’s about winning games.”
Receiver Allen Robinson said the offense is trending in the right direction.
“We haven’t had that breakout, explosive game, but I think that is right around the corner,” said Robinson, who had five catches for 53 yards.
In the meantime, the Bears’ defense has been special.
Chicago limited Carolina to 303 yards, and the Panthers were 3 of 13 on third down conversions. Bridgewater was held to a season-low 216 yards passing and was intercepted twice. He was forced to scramble out of the pocket eight times while trying to avoid pressure.
“Teddy was under duress the whole game,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said.
Still, the Panthers (3-3) had two chances to tie the game in the final two minutes. On a fourth-and-2 from the Bears 36, D.J. Moore couldn’t haul in a one-handed catch on a pass slightly overthrown. Carolina’s defense came up with a stop, but safety DeAndre Houston-Carson intercepted Bridgewater on Carolina’s next possession to seal the win.
“Great football teams capitalize in those two situations, and we didn’t do that today,” Bridgewater said.
Special moment: Chicago tight end Cole Kmet’s first NFL touchdown was extra special because his mother was among the 5,240 fans in attendance. He knew she was on her way to see his sister in Florida, and he landed her a ticket — not knowing for sure if she would make it.
Injuries: The Panthers played without wide receiver Curtis Samuel, listed as questionable with a knee injury, and safety Juston Burris was carted off the field late in the third quarter with a rib injury and did not return.