Eddy Piñeiro’s 39-yard field goal cut the deficit to 16-13 early in the fourth quarter, but his potential game-tying 59-yard attempt fell well short with 1:35 remaining.
With the victory, the Bears improved to 3-7 and are 3-3 since their 0-4 start.
“I really thought that we played some good complementary football,” said coach Matt Eberflus. “I really thought that the defense did a really good job of creating some short fields for our offense most of the day, and that was good. We capitalized on some of them. It was that kind of game. Both defenses played well today. I think overall we handled it well and put ourselves in position to win the game.”
After committing five turnovers in last Sunday’s loss to the Saints, the Bears offense played a clean game with no turnovers and no sacks allowed. Quarterback Tyson Bagent, making his fourth straight start in place of the injured Justin Fields, completed 20 of 33 passes for 162 yards and a 73.0 passer rating.
“He’s always done a really good job of avoiding sacks through the course of the four games that he’s played,” Eberflus said. “What he did well today is he didn’t put the ball in harm’s way and gave us a chance to win.”
Two former Panthers helped fuel the Bears offense, with Foreman rushing for 80 yards on 21 carries and DJ Moore catching five passes for a game-high 58 yards.
The Bears defensive line generated consistent pressure on quarterback Bryce Young, with tackle Justin Jones and ends Yannick Ngakoue and Rasheem Green registering sacks. End Montez Sweat recorded three quarterback hits.
The Panthers took a 7-0 lead on Ihmir Smith-Marsette’s 79-yard punt return touchdown midway through the first quarter. Smith-Marsette, who played six games for the Bears last season, broke three tackles en route to his first career return TD.
The Bears cut the deficit to 7-3 on Cairo Santos’ 54-yard field goal. It came after Santos’ apparent 49-yarder was nullified by a false start on Cody Whitehair.
Carolina extended its lead to 10-3 on Pineiro’s 33-yard field goal early in the second period. The kick was set up by Young’s 45-yard completion to receiver Mike Strachan to the Chicago 26.
Santos answered with two more field goals, a 36-yarder with 3:06 left in the second quarter, and a 39-yarder as time expired in the half, drawing the Bears to within 10-9. The second came after Bagent had engineered a 9-play, 70-yard drive in just 1:12.
“I’m certainly proud of the guys the way they handled the end of the half,” Eberflus said. “Really did a good job of taking the two-minute down there. Bagent did a really good job there.”