So. . . that happened. Losses suck, but there is usually value in seeing your team’s weaknesses dashed against the strengths of better competition. But are the Bears actually good? Could the Panthers be bad? I don’t think we can answer either of those questions after this game. The Panthers were 3/13 on third down, they didn’t sack Nick Foles once, and the Bears still barely held on to a one possession lead by the skin of their teeth.
Put another way, this was a weird game. Let’s revisit the Panthers atrocious three conversions on 13(!