The Chicago Bears gave the Carolina Panthers plenty to sort through in Week 1, and Tory Taylor added one more headache.
Ben Johnson’s offense rolled to a 59-37 win in Chicago, with Caleb Williams carving up Carolina both through the air and on the ground for 334 total yards and four touchdowns. The Bears also piled up 291 rushing yards, making the whole operation look like a problem that’s going to linger for defensive coordinators.
But even the moments when Chicago had to punt came with a twist.
Taylor, who finished with 102 total yards on two punts, delivered the kind of kick that can change a game without ever showing up in a box score headline. Midway through the second quarter, he lined up, angled his body left and sent the ball downfield with a heavy left-to-right curve.
Jimmy Horn Jr. had trouble reading the flight, muffed the punt and undrafted free agent wide receiver Kaden Davis jumped on it. Chicago turned the short field into a Cairo Santos 40-yard field goal.
After the game, Johnson pointed to Taylor’s “banana ball” as the kind of play that can swing momentum in a hurry. That turnover came at a key stretch, with Carolina having just scored on back-to-back touchdown drives and the Bears coming off a turnover on downs after failing on fourth-and-one from their own 21-yard line.
And that’s the real wrinkle here: even when opponents do manage to force Chicago into a punt, they still have to deal with a look they may not be ready for. Richard Hightower won’t always ask Taylor to use the banana punt, but teams will have to spend time during the week preparing for it anyway.
That’s time they can’t spend elsewhere. In a league where every rep matters, Taylor and the Bears’ coverage unit just added another thing every opponent has to account for.
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