Bryce Young watched from the sideline as Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams faced third-and-13 with 1:27 to play in the third quarter.

With a wired headset in his left ear, Young paced the sideline as his Carolina Panthers sought a comeback from a 20-point hole.

Williams, the quarterback who will forever be associated with Young in NFL lore, hit receiver Keenan Allen on third down, but Allen fell two yards behind the chains.

Young took turns clapping for and high-fiving his defensive teammates as they trotted away from the punt.

He was supportive. But that wasn’t the plan.

The Carolina Panthers didn’t trade two first-round picks, two second-round picks and their best receiver to sign a cheerleader who would sit on the bench for two games in his second season.

They did not trade up from ninth to first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft with the expectation that Young would throw 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his debut season, completing 59.8% of his passes and taking 62 sacks for a league-worst 477 yards.

Fair or not, the Carolina Panthers expected Young to be serviceable when he arrived, just as Williams was for Chicago this year.

Instead, the Panthers engineered a trade that accelerated the Bears’ rebuild and severely hampered their own, as Young’s 2-14 rookie season landed Chicago and Williams the first overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

When the two teams met on Sunday for the first time since Chicago drafted Williams with its gift-wrapped top pick, the Bears’ 36-10 victory showed how far these franchises still have to go.

It wasn’t just about the result, with Chicago getting back over .500 at 3-2 while the Panthers went 1-4. This was about the players who dictated the outcome – starting with the quarterbacks and an important receiver.

Panthers losing players hurt them

The Panthers held their own early in the contest, with each team exchanging a three-and-out before then exchanging touchdown drives.

But after Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard burst through the heart of Chicago’s generally solid defense for a 38-yard score, the Bears didn’t just find the end zone with any player – they found the end zone with the two players they wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for Carolina.

With 5:44 left in the first quarter, Williams seemed to sense that no defender was picking up receiver DJ Moore as Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn ran his man from left to right.

The Panthers’ 2018 first-round pick intercepted Williams’ pass and covered the distance to the end zone. A 34-yard touchdown against the team for which he scored 21 times in five years.

The Bears pulled away in the second quarter. Carolina didn’t score at all, as Chicago twice capped its scoring drives with 1-yard rushing touchdowns and then went back to the man switching sides.

This time, with 24 seconds left in the first half, Williams slipped to the right and faltered slightly. He found Moore in the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown, with Moore intercepting the backside pass as if Carolina cornerback Michael Jackson hadn’t covered him as thoroughly as he had.

The Panthers never recovered from a 27-7 halftime deficit, making just one field goal in the second half and even benching Dalton for the final drive.

Young got off to a solid start against a defense determined to bend but not break 26, with 2023 top pick Miles Sanders hitting deep for 27 yards on his first throw before later hitting Coker for 16 and 15, respectively met. Ultimately, a dropped pick, a short scramble and a fourth-down sack led to a turnover on downs.

Dalton finished the game 18 of 28 for 136 yards, one interception and two fumbles, while Young completed 4 of 7 attempts for 58 yards.

On the other hand, Williams completed 20 of 29 for 304 yards, two touchdowns and no errors.

Williams also ran for 34 yards on five carries.