CHARLOTTE — It's Chicago week for the Panthers and to misquote Nick Miller, thin crust pizza? No thank you. It's Chicago.

The Carolina Panthers have never won a regular season game in Solider Field, but did take a playoff win in the Windy City in January 2006, in the Divisional Playoffs (when Steve Smith caught about 125 passes). The Panthers are 4-8 all-time against the Bears. Carolina is 3-2 at home and 1-6 on the road. The Panthers are 1-0 against the Bears all-time in the playoffs.

Andy Dalton, who did play for the Bears in 2021, has never beaten Chicago; one of only three teams he can say that about in the National Football League.

"This week might be the first Sunday," receiver Diontae Johnson laughed, when told of the stat.

Now the Panthers are hoping to take that energy to the Midwest and grab their second win of the season. Here are five things to watch in the game.

The Red Rifle…

Andy Dalton has averaged 270-yards per game the last two weeks, with five touchdowns to only one interception, with a 65.4 completion percentage. The Bears' defense has been holding teams to an average of 320-yards per game, including 175 through the air. A big portion of Dalton's early success is the chemistry quickly developed with Johnson.

Dalton has targeted Johnson 27 times over the last two games, for 15 receptions, 205 yards and two touchdowns. Even as defenses have started to lock in more on Johnson, the receiver is working to be whoever Dalton needs him to be.

"It allows me to play fast," Johnson said of Dalton's experience. "I always have a plan at the line and me being me, it just allows me, me and him, that little connection we have, just allows me, knowing I can do certain stuff in my routes, knowing he's counting on me, so at the end of the day, it's my job to make sure I'm in the right spot and make a play whenever the ball comes my way.

"Andy, a veteran guy back there. Just shows you, when you have a vet presence back there, I continue to say you know what you're going to get. It allows you to just go out there and play fast and just be yourself and just not overthink."

With Adam Thielen out (hamstring), Johnson said he did notice the Bengals started playing him differently in Week 4, clouding him and putting the safety over the top. If the Bears lock in on Johnson this week, it allows a receiver like Xavier Legette – who had six catches for 66 yards and his first touchdown last week – a chance to use his natural skills to win matchups, which is all part of Dave Canales' plan.

"Right now, we have a starting point, and it starts with Diontae Johnson and trying to figure out ways to formation him to get him good looks that way," the coach said this week. "He saw a little double coverage last week. Well, guess what, Xavier made a 15-yard catch and a critical third down because he had the single. So, we'll get one on one opportunities for receivers, for tight ends, for the backs at times when we have a focal point and a starting point in our pass game. And that's what I'm excited about."

Of Dalton's 77 pass attempts this season, 51 of them have been quick passes (66.2%). On quick passes, the Bears have allowed the lowest completion percentage over expected (-7.6%) and the 5th-fewest yards (268).

…vs the Young Gun

The latter part of that header is not actually Caleb Williams nickname, but it could be. The former Heisman winner has a penchant for throwing it around the yard, a habit he's tried to carry over to the NFL. Typically, that means a pass rush has opportunities to get into the backfield on scramble drills and generate sacks or, at the very least, throwaways.

"That's one of the things you see with young quarterbacks, is their mindset that every play has to stay alive," safety Nick Scott said. "So, they do a lot of running around what not, which I don't know if that will change. Some quarterbacks are good at that; Mahomes and all that stuff and that's one of their strong suit's is keeping plays alive and it looks like (Caleb is) trending in that direction.

"Just understand where your opportunity is. When you have a guy that's scrambling around a lot and looking to throw, you can have a lot of big plays from that, right? But on the flip end, there's a lot of turnovers in that style of play when you try to extend the play."

While there is opportunity, there is also a challenge in facing a quarterback like Williams. He's not necessarily running just to run. He's running to still pass. And with receivers like Rome Odunze and DJ Moore on the other end, a deep downfield shot is never out of question.

"You just got to stay on high alert because he can make everything," corner Mike Jackson said. "He got a crazy arm angle. He can like change the angle of his throws and still get the ball there. So, he can really do scramble drill and all that. He can scramble, throw it five yards or 50."

But oh yeah, don't forget, he can also still run, and has, to the tune of 79 yards on 16 carries.

"That's the challenge when you got an extra runner at quarterback, and they can throw it. That's the biggest challenge of the game, is trying to figure out when he going to run, or zone read or when he going to run out of pocket or move the pocket," outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney noted. "Anything with him moving with the ball in his hands is going to be a problem if we don't contain gaps. He can make any play with his legs, and we just got to do a good job of playing team football and up front, we've got to do a good job of rushing as a unit."

Can Chuba Hubbard do it again?

Mama there goes that man again! Chuba Hubbard has pounded the run game the last two weeks, posting back-to-back games of 100-plus yards on the ground. It's the one area of the Bears defense where there is some give, as they've allowed an average of 121 yards a game there (middle of the league overall), but will still be hard fought, nonetheless.

"You got good players, you got good scheme, and this is like the third or fourth year, I think, the coach been there in that system, so, you know, once you guys get a rhythm and speak the same language and communicate the same way, it becomes easy," offensive guard Robert Hunt said. "So, I think they're just playing with confidence and playing fast, and they got good players."

Canales has been, by his own words, "stubborn" about running the football behind Hubbard and Miles Sanders. That won't change this week, but he does acknowledge the difficulties presented by the Bears and head coach Matt Eberflus.

"They have a real simple approach, then they have disguises off of it," Canales explained. "It is very similar to the Bengals approach where things start a certain way and they can play other things off of it.

"But the bottom line is coach Eberflus tells those guys to go and they do, they respond that way. They play great team football, they fly to the ball, they rotate the entire defensive line, and that second group is good. So have a fantastic mentality about how they play ball and a great system that I really respect."

The Panthers best chance at counteracting this defense though? An offensive line that has taken to calling themselves mean, tough and nasty…and proven it each week.

"They are moving," Sanders said of the group opening up lanes for Hubabrd and himself. "They are moving grown men 5 yards off the ball every play and they're not letting nobody touch that quarterback and that's the best you can ask for in the O-line. They're playing their butts off."

Wallace's time to shine

Rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace was drafted for this moment, even if it is coming sooner than most anticipated. The Kentucky product will get his first start on Sunday, in place of the injured Shaq Thompson. Building off of an experiment during the offseason, he'll also be the one wearing the green dot and calling plays in the defensive huddle.

"He's been a sharp guy from day one," inside linebackers coach Pete Hansen said of Wallace this week.

"I think we noticed that the first weekend. I was able to kind of stick to my normal teaching within the classroom and walkthroughs and things like that and just included everybody in the room as far as, you know, 'hey, Trevin, did you hear what I just told Josey or did you hear what I just told Shaq and maybe repeat the idea in your words that we just talked about.' But he's been a sharp guy. We haven't had to do any extra, on your feet meetings or anything like that. I mean, he's just been a sharp studious guy that picked it up pretty quick."

Wallace's first time on the mic and the starting lineup won't be without its challenges. The Bears have built their running game around D'Andre Swift. He has 53 carries this season, for 161 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He's also added 13 receptions for 118 yards through the air.

"I mean his last name, it ain't lying. He matches his last name," said Miles Sanders, who shared a running back room with Swift in Philadelphia. "He matches his last name. He's a smooth cutter.

"You can't really anticipate his cuts. He cuts on a dime. He sells the way he's going to run, run one way and then he'll cut on a dime for you. So, he's very special in making people miss in open field. His burst is very explosive, and he catches the ball very well inside the backfield too."

The Windy City

Solider Field sits in between the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan, creating a wind tunnel that traps the breeze all the way down to the field. Not only does the geography welcome the wind, but the design of the stadium can cause it to bounce, meaning what the flags are doing on top might be opposite of what the wind is doing on the field.

In other words, a kicker and punters nightmare.

Longtime Bears kicker Robbie Gould used to get asked in warm-ups by opposing specialists, ""Robbie, how do you kick in this place?'"

Luckily for the Panthers, Eddy Piñeiro is familiar with Solider Field. The kicker played for the Bears during the 2019 season and went 12-14 on field goals at home that year. He also went 2-3 when the Panthers played in Chicago last season, making a 33-yarder and 39-yard field goal, but missing one from 59 yards.

The weather report for Chicago on Sunday is sunny, with no rain, although there is a chance of high winds from 12:30-4:30 p.m. local time. Piñeiro will have to pull out his old tricks for kicking in the unique venue.