The Carolina Panthers fell 13-16 to the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football. Panthers head coach Frank Reich elected to send kicker Eddy Pineiro out to attempt a 59-yard field goal with 1:40 on the clock and the game on the line. It turned out to be too much leg for the veteran kicker, and he missed it short, sealing a victory for the Bears. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and Reich might now want that choice back after taking the ball out of No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young's hands in that moment. Postgame, Reich said he regretted the decision, but only after the miss.

“Did I second guess myself?” Reich said. “Yeah, after we missed it.”

Carolina took over down three points with just over seven minutes left on the clock. The Panthers scratched and clawed for every yard they earned on their final drive. Bryce Young scrambled to convert a 4th-and-1, then found his favorite target Adam Thielen to convert on 3rd-and-3. Two minutes later, Young linked up with his tight end Hayden Hurst on 3rd-and-9 to set up a short play in four-down territory. Only after that completion did the Panthers cross into Bears' territory. Following the two-minute warning, Young dished to Miles Sanders to complete yet another must-have 4th-and-short.

The drive stalled there, however, courtesy of three straight incompletions. Frank Reich was faced with a tough choice. Trust his rookie quarterback to convert on 4th-and-10 from the Bears' 41-yard line, or send out his kicker to attempt a new career-long field goal? On the one hand, Young had just came through in the clutch multiple times. But now he needs 10 yards. On the other, 59 yards is a tough kick to make even for the strongest kickers in the NFL. Reich opted to try and tie the game right there, and it didn't work out.

Reich's decision came with a few points of fallout. First, Reich is essentially coaching for his job right now. The Panthers have been in search of the right head coach since their flyer on Matt Rhule didn't work out. Given they gave up so much to draft Bryce Young, the front office has its current answer at quarterback. If the blame can't fall on the rookie quarterback, the head coach is next up on the chopping block.

Second, if the Panthers can't beat Tyson Bagent and the Bears, who can they beat? No disrespect to Tyson Bagent, he's doing a fine job for a rookie backup quarterback, but it's not like he went and threw the ball all over the lot. The Panthers didn't score an offensive touchdown tonight. That's a problem.

Finally, this win actually means a lot for the Bears. Chicago hold's Carolina's first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, so the more games Carolina loses, the better it is for the Bears. Particularly if the Panthers finish with the NFL's worst record, which looks likely. Chicago probably wants to move off Justin Fields and draft Caleb Williams out of USC at No. 1 in 2024. Otherwise, they could flip that pick for a king's ransom of draft capital. So this was a huge win for the Bears, despite only improving to 3-7 on the year.