The first sign of friction in the Bears’ 36-10 win over the Panthers on Sunday came midway through the third quarter when Bears quarterback Caleb Williams scrambled 10 yards on third-and-eight and took a hard shot out of bounds.
Williams kept the drive alive by running up the right sideline and reached the Panthers 2-yard line when he leaped out of bounds to avoid getting hit by two defenders. As he sailed through the air, though, Panthers safety Nick Scott jumped from the goal line and drilled Williams in the chest with his shoulder and sent him spinning into some photographers.
There was no penalty on the play, but the Bears raised objection. Left guard Bill Murray ran up and bumped Scott after the play and gave him an earful as the Soldier Field crowd booed, and Williams disagreed with the non-call.
“Thought it’d be a flag,” he said. “I was out of bounds for a good little bit.”
When asked whether he pursued it with officials or got an explanation, Williams replied, “I didn’t ask. I just kept going. Help the team. Go score.”
The Bears reached the 1-yard line before settling for Cairo Santos’ 33-yard field goal to pull ahead 30-7.
While Williams moved on, Scott’s hit lingered for the offensive line.
“That was dirty,” right guard Matt Pryor said. “We take it personally when our quarterback gets hit, whether it was a legal play or not.”
Fury flared again near the end of the game, when a crowd of players got into an altercation after Roschon Johnson’s one-yard touchdown run with four minutes left.
Murray grabbed cornerback Jaycee Horn while blocking on the play, and Horn went at him after the whistle. He hit Murray and offensive lineman Doug Kramer in the facemask, then Pryor came in from his right and punched him in the side of the helmet. Panthers linebacker D.J. Johnson then flew in and knocked Pryor to the ground with his shoulder before officials settled it down.
Horn and Pryor were ejected, and Johnson was flagged for unnecessary roughness.
“It would’ve been better to handle it during a play than there, but I’m going to protect my teammates,” Pryor said.
He and Murray were unclear exactly what prompted Horn’s initial reaction, but Pryor said, “Probably just frustration. Nobody likes getting embarrassed.”
At the end of that play, Bears coach Matt Eberflus curiously went for a two-point conversion. Up 26 points. With four minutes remaining.
“That was the chart,” he said.
Sure.
Regardless, the Bears didn’t convert as Williams threw incomplete on a pass to Keenan Allen.