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We went into the weekend hoping for a surprise 2-0, so now 1-1 is downright depressing.  This is a game the Bears should have won after leading 17-3, but they blew it bigtime.  Carolina has two come from behind wins in two weeks, and really took the wind out of the Bears sails late in this one.

The good:

The first half -- the defense looked solid, the offense looked passable (a compliment).  Orton managed the game, Forte ran the ball with authority.  Another pleasant surprise was the play of Brandon Lloyd.  He came up with several big catches, and also returned the blocked punt for a TD to start the scoring.

 The Bad:

The collapse.  You can't let this team come back on you, and there is enough blame to go around.  The offense should have been able to keep the ball long enough to let the defense rest.  The defense had their chances to shut down the Panthers and kept letting them off the hook.  The worst part is that the game was full of dumb penalties on offense, defense and on special teams.  Devin Hester left the game with some kind of rib injury, and that doesn't bode well for the future.  Daneal Manning and Nathan Vasher filled in to mostly disappointing results.

Fantasy Spin:

If you drafted the Bears defense because of Hester, you'll be holding your breath until you hear the updates on how long he'll be out.  Hopefully a precautionary move, and he won't miss much time.  If you're in a league where no one has jumped on Forte, go get him now.  He wasn't the stud he was in Week 1, but he still had a decent day, and looked like he could help the Bears make good on the (normally empty) promise of "getting off the bus running."  Lloyd remains someone to monitor, but I wouldn't try too hard to pick him up just yet.  Greg Olson had a terrible game, so his start drops a bit.  Des Clark made some nice catches and they continue to get him involved in the offense.  Worth a look if you are thin at TE, or need a good backup.  Orton continues to show promise but is still nothing more than a bye week replacement.  I'd like Robbie Gould a lot better if I thought that the offense would consistently get him scoring chances.  17 points isn't going to get that done, but you could do worse if you need a kicker.

 Bottom Line:

 This is more like the team we all expected.  They will have their chances, but more often than not will let us down.  After this week, you expect .500 at best.  Hopefully things look up after next week when they play their home opener against the Tampa Bay Bucs.  This is a very winnable game, and a solid performance could go ways towards washing the taste of this one out of our mouths.