CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Before the Panthers' game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Teddy Bridgewater had been one of the better quarterbacks in the league this season.
He had the highest completion percentage (73.4%) among quarterbacks and the sixth-most passing yards. Through the first five games, Bridgewater had done enough to help the Panthers win games, and possibly compete for an NFC South title. An expectation few had before the season began.
But Sunday, against the Bears, Bridgewater was anything but impressive.
He had his worst statistical performance of the season. He passed for a season low 216 yards and completed only 55% of his passes. And the Panthers' final drive ended exactly how their first drive ended.
With an interception.
"We just missed the throw," Bridgewater said. "We've just got to execute better. Defense gave us a chance at the end of a game with a stop, and we turned the ball over.
"Great football teams, they capitalize off those situations and they take advantage of it. We didn't do that today."
Sunday's game was the second time this year Bridgewater has thrown two interceptions in a game. The other was against the Buccaneers, and it ended in similar fashion _ a 31-17 loss. The Panthers (3-3) are 0-2 when Bridgewater has more than one turnover.
The turnovers put the defense in bad positions. The Panthers' defense played well. It limited Bears quarterback Nick Foles to under 200 yards, intercepted him and stopped the running game. The defense gave the offense a chance.
But Bridgewater struggled to take advantage. His interception on the Panthers' first drive was a pass he should not have thrown. It led to seven points for the Bears and put the Panthers in an early hole.
On his second interception, in the Panthers' final drive, Bridgewater targeted DJ Moore in double coverage. The pass was easily picked off by safety DeAndre Houston-Carson, almost as if he were the intended receiver on the route.
Bridgewater also had an opportunity to hit an open Moore on fourth-and-2 on the Panthers second-to-last drive, but the pass was off target and Moore couldn't reel in the one-handed catch.
"That's a play we have to make all around," Panthers coach Matt Rhule said. "The last interception, obviously that's unfortunate. That can't happen."
Rhule added that it wasn't all on Bridgewater. He said there were times when receivers were not running the correct routes.
"We just weren't in sync," he said.
Bridgewater was under pressure the entire game. The Bears' defense sacked him four times, and seven of Bridgewater's eight rushes were scrambles.
Bridgewater had few answers as to what went wrong. He said he'd have to watch the film to better evaluate it.
The biggest difference in the game was turnovers _ the Panthers had three _ and Carolina's inability to convert on third down. The Panthers were 3 of 13 on third-down attempts.
"I really feel like we didn't execute well today," Bridgewater said. "We can point to red zone, third down, not running the ball, me having to run, things like that, but it just comes down to execution. We didn't play our best football.
"We have guys on this team who can make plays, and they have been making plays all year, we just didn't execute today."
