The Carolina Panthers walked away Sunday with a 59-37 loss to the Chicago Bears , and it's easy to look at that score and focus on everything that went wrong. Giving up 59 points and 552 yards will do that, but not everything that happened Sunday was bad.
Bryce Young and Jalen Coker will get most of the attention after the numbers they put up, but a couple of other Panthers had moments that shouldn't get lost in the final score.
Neither one filled up the stat sheet or had the type of game that's going to grab a lot of headlines, but both showed something Carolina can hopefully build on as the season moves forward. Here are two surprising standouts from Sunday's loss.
Dec 1, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks (24) during pregame warmups against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
Jonathon Brooks didn't have his name called too often Sunday afternoon, but when he finally got his chance, he made sure people noticed. Brooks turned his only catch into a 48-yard gain and showed some of the big-play ability he can bring to this offense.
With Chuba Hubbard getting most of the work, Brooks probably isn't going to put up huge numbers every week, but that doesn't mean he can't find a role. If anything, Sunday showed that he doesn't necessarily need a lot of touches to make something happen.
Sometimes all it takes is one play to earn another opportunity, and that's where I think Brooks helped himself against Chicago. When you can turn one catch into 48 yards, it gives the coaching staff another reason to find ways to get the ball in your hands.
I'm not saying Brooks suddenly needs 15 touches a game, but I'd definitely like to see Carolina give him a few more chances against Atlanta and see what happens.
There wasn't much to celebrate on defense, but Bobby Okereke gave Carolina one of its better moments. He put a hit on Luther Burden III that knocked the ball loose, and Will Lee III recovered it.
On a day when stops were hard to come by, that was a big play. Carolina needed somebody on defense to step up and create something, and Okereke did it with one hit.
The Panthers obviously have a lot to figure out after allowing 291 rushing yards. One forced fumble isn't going to erase what happened, but plays like that can give a struggling defense some life. That's what I'd like to see more of from Okereke.
Carolina needs players who can create turnovers and make something happen when things aren't going well, and he showed Sunday that he can be one of those guys.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/panthers/onsi as 2 Surprising Standouts for Panthers in Barn-Burner vs. Bears .
