In a virtual must win game for the Chicago Bears, all three phases made big plays to pull out a competitive victory over the up and coming Carolina Panthers.

I get the feeling, judging by fan reaction during and after the game, that most people drastically underestimated the Carolina Panthers offense. If you actually managed to watch the first two and a half games played by the Panthers though, you would have had an ample amount of respect for a simplified offense that has been tailored to fit Cam Newton's strengths.

In Newton's first game versus the Cardinals he threw for 422 yards with Steve Smith gaining 178 of those yards. In Newton's second game versus the Packers he threw for 432 yards with Steve Smith gaining 156 of those yards. Versus the Bears defense Newton threw for 374 yards with Steve Smith gaining 181 of those yards. Knowing that the Bears defense is susceptible to giving up large numbers of yards by design, I for one was not in any way surprised at what the Panthers were able to accomplish versus the Bears secondary. Considering the absence of the Bears best safety, Chris Harris, it should have been expected that Cam Newton and Steve Smith would attack and exploit the Bears' secondary successfully.

The large number of yards that the Bears defense gives up though come with a risk. The Bears defense forces quarterbacks to try to play mistake free which Cam Newton did not. As expected, the Bears were able to force Cam Newton into making mistakes. Newton's biggest mistake came on a pass breakup turned interception return for touchdown by D.J. Moore.

The most important stat for the Bears defense under Lovie Smith is points not yards. After giving up 20 points to the Carolina Panthers in the first half, the Bears held the Panthers offense to only 3 points in the second half before they scored their final touchdown in garbage time with 4 seconds remaining in the game. The main adjustment that the Bears defense made in order to slow down the Panthers offense was to blitz the rookie quarterback thereby hurrying his throws.

Fortunately for the Bears offense, they have one of the best special teams in the league to help them as they grow. Special teams was a major factor in this game to say the least. Not only did they help the offense by scoring a touchdown on Devin Hester's record setting punt return, but they also delivered great field position for the Bears only touchdown drive of the first 58 minutes of the game. Once the defense gets healthy and makes a few more adjustments, they can help give the punt return game some more opportunities to contribute.

Offensively speaking, the Bears finally had the right opponent with which to successfully execute their running game to the tune of 222 yards, 2 touchdowns, between running backs Matt Forte (205yds, 1TD) and Marion Barber (17yds, 1TD). A couple of games of poor running production has helped the Bears figure out which running plays were the best to call in order to play to the offensive line's strengths. The Bears need to continue to build off of the momentum they gained in the running game this week.

This illuminates a greater point about the regular season with a young offense. You never know what you're able to accomplish until you play the games. The offense has struggled and will continue to struggle from game to game. Ultimately though, it's about the adjustments that you make between games that allow a young offense to eventually establish its identity. Slowly, but surely, the Bears have been making the necessary adjustments, learning from every poor performance, to grow from one week to the next.

Remember my fellow Bears fans, the goal is to grow during the regular season in preparation for the second season should you get there. For some reason, I get the feeling that fans lose sight of that fact. Patience Daniel-san for one game does not a season make.