3 Keys to a Bears victory over the Panthers in Week 5

Through the first quarter of the NFL season, the Chicago Bears have so far done what many expected of them: They finished September at 2-2 against some tough competition. Now, they enter what appears to be an easy stretch of their schedule (though no game is truly easy in the NFL), starting with a home matchup against the 1-3 Carolina Panthers.

What was supposed to be a showdown between the two most recent first-overall picks, Bryce Young and Caleb Williams, is no more. Young has been benched for the veteran Andy Dalton, who has the Panthers playing their best football of the season. Dalton is a solid veteran who can pick apart defenses if given time to throw, and so far Carolina's offensive line has been among the league's best in pass-blocking.

The Bears can't afford to look past the Panthers, even at home. Here are three keys in particular they'll need to hit if they want to move to 3-2 on the year.

1. Keep Andy Dalton under duress.

As aforementioned, Dalton is a good, veteran quarterback. If given clean pockets to throw from, even the best secondary won't stop him from moving the ball at will. Fortunately, Dalton isn't a threat to take off and escape the pocket, so the defensive ends should have an easier time getting after him.

What Dalton can do is step up in the pocket and fire a strike. Gervon Dexter and Andrew Billings can't let him do that, which means they're going to have to bring their A-game on Sunday and box Dalton in.

2. Caleb Williams has to take another step.

So far, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has seemingly improved every single week, and that needs to continue on Sunday. In particular, he needs to start hitting a couple deep shots. He made those plays look easy in college, so it's not like the deep throw has never been in his toolbox. For some reason it just hasn't transferred to the NFL yet.

That's already begun to change as Williams has shown better accuracy on deep throws in the last two weeks. Now it needs to get even better. As far as having time to throw, that shouldn't be a major challenge either as the Panthers rank in the bottom ten for pressuring quarterbacks.

3. D'Andre Swift, have a day (again).

In Week 4, and for the first time all year, Swift looked like a running back worth his 3-year, $24 million deal. It was a refreshing change after averaging just 1.8 yards per carry through the first three weeks, and that needs to be his baseline for the rest of the season. I'm not saying he needs to average 165 scrimmage yards a game going forward, but he has to at least be a weapon on offense.

If he goes back to being an active detriment on the field, constantly leaving the Bears' offense in 2nd and 9 or 2nd and 12 situations, they're going to have a tough time beating Carolina.

Final Prediction: Bears win 31-20

Last week, the Bears put up three offensive touchdowns so this week I'm predicting four: two through the air and two on the ground. Williams should take that next step in his development by hitting a couple deep shots to DJ Moore and Rome Odunze while Cole Kmet and Keenan Allen create plays in the middle of the field.

Defensively, I don't think the Bears will be able to shutdown Dalton. He's too experienced and too reliable to completely flame out. But against a disciplined Matt Ebeflus defense with Gervon Dexter playing the way he has been, he's going to struggle moving the ball. The Bears should build up a comfortable lead by halftime and maintain it through the end of the game.