5 pivotal games that could define the Carolina Panthers 2023 season
By Ricky Raines
Carolina Panthers at Bears
- Week 10 – November 9, 8:15pm ET
Carolina Panthers fans and Chicago Bears fans have been in the throes of battle on social media as soon as the blockbuster trade of the No. 1 overall draft pick was completed. In Week 10, this battle will be played out between the white lines.
There are many fascinating layers to this contest. Starting with quarterback Justin Fields, who enters Year 3 of his professional career with true breakout potential after a superb offseason of recruitment in Chicago.
Fields was on the board for Carolina in the 2021 NFL Draft, but the franchise chose to select Jaycee Horn with the No. 8 overall selection instead. Their careers will forever be linked in the minds of Panthers fans.
As for Fields, he’s certainly gotten help this go of it, with D.J. Moore holding the WR1 title in the Windy City now. All the talk out of Bears circles points to very high expectations for the signal caller and the team, in general.
That means that there’s also a level of expectation that the Bears will be contending for the NFC North, with an even greater likelihood they end up vying for one of the wildcard playoff entries. The Panthers should view themselves in a similar vein, in that regard.
These types of matchups will have serious implications towards the end of the regular season when playoff seeding and earning a wildcard spot typically are decided by the slimmest of margins.
Another wrinkle to this one is the November weather in Chicago and how Bryce Young, a native of sunny California who’s spent the last couple of years playing football in the southeast, will fair in the elements.
There are so many preconceived doubts that follow Young’s individual storyline. This should just be another opportunity to check one off the list as unsubstantiated and silly.