Bears Flex Scary Offensive Potential in Week 5 Drubbing of Panthers

The Chicago Bears finally made an easy game look easy. Defeating the Carolina Panthers 36-10 on Sunday.

A performance like this is what everyone was hoping for after the Bears' disappointing loss two weeks ago to the Colts. Here are three takeaways from their dominant victory against the Panthers.

1. Explosive plays

The Bears' struggles on offense through the first month of the season have been well documented. While every aspect of the unit needs to be better, increasing the amount of "explosive plays" (a run that goes for 10+ yards or a pass that goes for 20+ yards) they create would help the most.

Entering this week, the Bears offense had 12 combined explosive plays, six runs and six passes.

The Bears lack of explosive plays in the first month of the season massively impacted their ability to move the ball downfield. For this reason, the Bears needed to improve on hitting explosive plays in October.

That's already off to a great start after the Bears hit five explosive plays against the Panthers. D.J. Moore, D'Andre Swift and Cole Kmet all had at least one explosive play.

Moore ended his day with two catches over 20 yards and both plays resulted in touchdowns. Swift had one explosive run and one explosive catch. Swift's came on a screen pass that went for 42 yards and ended with him getting tackled at the 2-yard line.

Swift's explosive run went for an 18-yard gain. Kmet had a 26-yard catch in the fourth quarter that might have gone for a touchdown if Caleb Williams had hit him in stride.

Although it's exciting to see the Bears finally hit some explosive plays, the Panthers' defense is the worst in the NFL, so it isn't shocking. The Bears offense needs to continue the big play success they had against the Panthers going forward to have a sustainable offense.