Panthers squander early punt return TD, lose to the Bears

By Clark Gerber, WRAL Sports contributor

Carolina Panthers	13
Chicago Bears	16
Final

Special teams spotted the Carolina Panthers an early lead on Thursday night, but after another sluggish performance on offense, they couldn’t take advantage.

Eddy Pineiro’s 59-yard field goal attempt landed well short in the final minutes, as the Panthers fell to the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football, 16-13.

For a moment, it looked like Carolina would be able to push the game into overtime, as Bryce Young was able to convert two fourth downs on a 15 play, 50-yard drive into Bears territory.

But the drive stalled with three straight incompletions at the 41-yard line. Rather than go for it a third time, Panthers head coach Frank Reich elected to try a long field goal that would have tied the game.

Pineiro's kick was on line, but didn't have the distance.

"We’ve had too many close games where, if we play a little bit better on offense, we win," said Reich. "I’m not going to focus on how many yards or what the run-pass ratio is… For us right now it’s just [about] making plays to win football games."

Special teams was a big storyline earlier in the game as well.

Ihmir Smith-Marsette, a former Bear, broke a 79-yard punt return to open the scoring in the first quarter. It was his first career punt return touchdown and the first for the Panthers since Week 12 of 2017 against the New York Jets.

After that, however, the highlights were few and far between as Chicago outscored Carolina 16-6 the rest of the way.

Cairo Santos booted three first half field goals to keep the Bears in the game. Then, former Panther D'Onta Foreman found the end zone on a 4-yard run in the 3rd quarter to give the Bears the lead for good.

The Panthers offense finished the game with just 213 total yards on 57 plays. Young finished 21/38 for 185 yards, his second straight game with less than 5 yards per attempt.

Panthers running backs totaled just 25 yards on 13 carries, an average of less than 2 yards per attempt.

"There’s no excuse," said Young. "We’re all competitors, we’re all frustrated. Ultimately, [you can] be as frustrated as you want, it’s not going to matter next Sunday. We’ve got to use that to actually be better and make sure it carries over."

The longest play of the night (for either side) came in the 2nd quarter. Newcomer Michael Strachan got open for a 45-yard gain into the red zone, which led to Pineiro's first of two successful field goals.

Strachan was elevated from the practice squad on Thursday afternoon, helping to replace the injured DJ Chark.

The Panthers (1-8) now have 10 days to prepare for their next contest. They will host the Dallas Cowboys (5-3) at Bank of America Stadium on November 19th.

Scoring summary

5:46 1st - Ihmir Smith-Marsette 79 Yd Punt Return. Eddy Pineiro Made XP. 7-0 Panthers.

2:29 1st - Cairo Santos Made 54 Yd Field Goal. 7-3 Panthers.

13:33 2nd - Eddy Pineiro Made 33 Yd Field Goal. 10-3 Panthers.

3:06 2nd - Cairo Santos Made 36 Yd Field Goal. 10-6 Panthers.

0:00 2nd - Cairo Santos Made 39 Yd Field Goal. 10-9 Panthers.

6:33 3rd - D'Onta Foreman 4 Yd Rush. Cairo Santos Made XP. 16-10 Bears.

11:06 4th - Eddy Pineiro Made 39 Yd Field Goal. 16-13 Bears.