Bears buried the Panthers at halftime behind two deep Caleb Williams TD passes

After an efficient performance last week, the Bears believed the next step in Caleb Williams' development would be for him to become a threat on deep throws.

That's what he did this Sunday, hitting receiver DJ Moore for touchdowns of 34 and 30 yards, respectively, to secure a 27-7 halftime lead over the lowly Panthers at Soldier Field.

Williams' first touchdown also improved on another bugbear – before Sunday, the Bears had scored a total of three points in the first quarter. The second pass to Moore came with 24 seconds left in the first half after the Bears stopped the Panthers on fourth down.

Williams posted by far the best first half of his career, completing 11 for 15 yards for 200 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 154.9.

The Panthers took the lead six minutes into the game on a 38-yard touchdown run by Chuba Hubbard, but dominated the Panthers the rest of the game. Quarterback Andy Dalton, a former Bear, went 9 of 13 for 31 yards. With about three minutes left in the game, the eighth went down, which resulted in tight end Tommy Tremble fumbling on third down. Safety Jaquan Brisker forced the fumble with a crunching hit – Tremble was evaluated for a concussion and the ball was recovered by defensive tackle Gervon Dexter.

Williams threw a screen pass to D'Andre Swift on the next play, and the running back pushed it 42 yards up the right flank before being tackled at the 2. Two plays later, he scored on a 1-yard run for a 14-point lead.

The Bears tied the game on the first Moore touchdown and took the lead on a 1-yard run by Roschon Johnson that capped a 13-play, 80-yard scoring drive. Johnson was stuffed on fourth-and-1 to end the Bears' next drive.

Swift has 67 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards at halftime.

Previously, the Bears left guard Teven Jenkins active after dealing with a rib injury. He left the game late in the second quarter with ankle problems and did not return.