Panthers make their first big play

It took about half an hour for Panthers fans to have much to cheer for at the Carolina-Chicago game.

The Bears started off with that punt block for a TD -- see previous blog -- and then Carolina's second offensive series short-circuited around midfield.

Chicago finally got the ball inside its own 10, and went all the way back inside its own 5, until Chicago's Brandon Lloyd beat Ken Lucas on a 32-yard gain (as thousands of fans in the stadium screamed in vain at Lucas: "Look around! Look around!")

Chicago got into field-goal position a little short of Carolina's 20 before Thomas Davis caused a fumble that Jon Beason picked up and returned 11 yards. That gave Carolina decent field position, but the Panthers' third drive just went nowhere, too. Carolina's offense has generally been terrible in its first 3 series -- it gets penalized about every third play, and Jake Delhomme has been under constant pressure.

With two minutes left in the first quarter, it's still Chicago 7, Carolina 0.