The 2023 Carolina Panthers and the 2024 Chicago Bears have some worrying similarities. Other versions of the Panthers share disheartening commonalities with Chicago, too, in former Panthers legend Steve Smith’s eyes. On paper, the two teams are very dissimilar, but there are some underlying issues that have cropped up in Chicago that the Panthers know all too well.

The 2024 Bears and 2023 Panthers are similar, but Smith took it back to his playing days. Those teams, and last year’s Carolina, were not very good teams. The former wide receiver believes there’s one main issue going on that has been consistent in clubs in this situation.

Steve Smith acknowledged the report that some veterans have reportedly gone to the front office to say that Tyson Bagent may need to start over Caleb Williams. He said, “It’s not that he’s not the guy. It’s that we’re trying to win a football game. He’s a little bit behind.”

Smith said the veteran wide receivers getting frustrated with a rookie quarterback is nothing new. His 2011 Panthers had rookie Cam Newton. While Newton was good even then and had a good rookie year, that wasn’t the case in 2010 with Jimmy Clausen.

He believes resentment can set in because the coaching staff is working so hard on veterans while letting things slip through the cracks for the rookie quarterback. He believes the current Bears staff, like some old Panthers ones, is lifting the rookie QB up at the expense of everyone else.

As it relates to the 2023 Panthers, the Bears have a porous offensive line and bad coaching. Those are the main issues that plagued the Panthers last year, although their offense was also totally devoid of talent.

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