Blowout loss to Bears another reminder of just badly the Panthers botched 2023 trade for Bryce Young

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Sunday's game served as yet another unneeded reminder for the Carolina Panthers of just how badly they botched the trade for Bryce Young in 2023 — and how far back it has set the franchise.

Caleb Williams threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns — both of those to former Carolina wide receiver D.J. Moore — as the Bears routed the Panthers 36-10 in Chicago.

Moore was part of the deal in which the Panthers also sent four draft picks to the Bears to move up to the No. 1 overall pick to acquire a franchise quarterback. But instead of taking C.J. Stroud, who went No. 2 overall to the Houston Texans and has experienced quick success, the Panthers took Young — and it has been a disaster ever since.

Young is 2-16 as an NFL starter and was benched just two games into the Dave Canales era for 36-year-old journeyman Andy Dalton.

Williams, meanwhile, displayed good pocket presence in the best game of his young career. Williams, of course, was taken No. 1 overall in this year's draft with a pick the Bears received from the Panthers after Carolina finished with an NFL-worst 2-15 record last season.

The Bears also added offensive tackle Darnell Wright and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson — both of whom are now starters — along with punter Tory Taylor as part of that trade haul that could haunt the Panthers for years.

Even more concerning is that hindsight is proving the Panthers may not have needed to make the move at all had they been able to develop their own quarterback.

The Panthers previously acquired Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield — both former top-three draft picks — in trades with the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, respectively, in an effort to shore up the QB position.

Both are now excelling with their current teams.

Darnold has the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings (5-0) atop the NFC North. Mayfield, one year after leading the Buccaneers to the playoffs, has thrown 11 touchdowns and two interceptions this season.

The Panthers (1-4) meanwhile seem likely to miss the playoffs for the seventh straight season and their QB future still remains unsettled.

The optimism from the Dalton-infused victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3 has faded fast, and the Panthers now find themselves right back where they were before: a struggling football team coming off yet another blowout loss.

Dalton will remain the starter moving forward though.

The Panthers aren't a particularly deep team, and injuries have curtailed any momentum from that win in Vegas.

They had already lost defensive end Derrick Brown, linebacker Shaq Thompson and wide receiver Adam Thielen — three of their best players — to injuries coming into Sunday, with the Brown and Thompson injuries being season-ending.

On Sunday, matters got worse as five more players went down: center Austin Corbett (torn biceps), right tackle Taylor Moton (triceps), outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (shoulder), wide receiver Xavier Legette (shoulder) and tight end Tommy Tremble (concussion).

Corbett will miss the remainder of the season; Moton is expected to miss a few weeks, according to Canales.

Things got to a point at the end of Sunday's game that Canales removed Dalton because he was getting hit in the pocket with two starting linemen out.

In came Young with his team down by 26 for his first mop-up duty since being benched, an all-too-painful reminder for the Panthers about how they got fleeced by the Bears in what may go down as one of the most lopsided trades in NFL history.

Chuba Hubbard continues to be one of the few bright spots for the Panthers. He ran for 97 yards on just 13 carries, including a season-best 38-yard touchdown burst to put the Panthers up 7-0. Hubbard barely missed out on his third straight 100-yard rushing game, but has now run for 379 yards and scored three touchdowns over the past four games, while averaging 6.1 yards per carry. The Panthers are expected to get rookie Jonathan Brooks back from injured reserve in the coming weeks, but Hubbard is showing no signs of losing his hold on the starting job.

The Panthers continue to get little production from their tight end position. Tommy Tremble caught a pass on Sunday and was hit and fumbled, leading to a Bears touchdown. (The Bears scored 17 points off turnovers). And rookie tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders had two drops — including one that would have moved the chains and put the Panthers in field-goal range — and a penalty. Through five games Carolina's tight ends have combined for 15 catches for 90 yards and no touchdowns.

Raheem Blackshear is quietly giving the Panthers some solid production as a return man. He averaged 33.7 yards per kickoff return on Sunday, including a long of 43 yards. He also averaged 10 yards per punt return. He is averaging 27.4 yards per kickoff return this season, which ranks among the best in the league.

CB Jaycee Horn. He was supposed to be the team's lockdown cornerback, but allowed another score on Sunday to former teammate Moore. The Panthers have allowed 11 passing touchdowns in five games. To make matters worse, a frustrated Horn was ejected for fighting in the end zone after the Bears final touchdown. Not good news for the 2021 first-round draft pick who is due for a contract extension after this season.

Moton's streak of 120 straight games played since joining the Panthers will end Sunday against the Falcons because of a triceps injury. Yosh Nijman will make the start at right tackle.

Brady Christensen will replace Austin Corbett, who is headed to injured reserve.

The Panthers opened the practice window for CB Dane Jackson and TE Ian Thomas last week after both began the season on injured reserve, so there is some hope both could return this week.

33 — Points allowed per game by the Panthers through five games, the most in the league.

The Panthers return home to face Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Cousins threw for 509 yards and four touchdowns last week against the Buccaneers and now faces a Carolina secondary that has allowed 11 passing touchdowns in five games.

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Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jonathan Mingo (15) catches a pass against the Chicago Bears during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jonathan Mingo (15) is brought down by ;Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson (1) and safety Kevin Byard III (31) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) throws against the Carolina Panthers during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (15) sheds the tackle of Carolina Panthers cornerback Michael Jackson (2) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton (14) waits for a play against the Chicago Bears during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) throws against the Chicago Bears during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, left, and Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton, right, talk after an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales talks with reporters after his team's 36-10 loss to the Chicago Bears in an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Bears defensive tackle Andrew Billings (97) sacks Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton (14) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Carolina Panthers quarterbacks Andy Dalton (14) and Bryce Young (9) watches against the Chicago Bears during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

NEW YORK (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday suggested that migrants who are in the U.S. and have committed murder did so because “it’s in their genes.” There are, he added, “a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”

It’s the latest example of Trump alleging that immigrants are changing the hereditary makeup of the U.S. Last year, he evoked language once used by Adolf Hitler to argue that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country."

Trump made the comments Monday in a radio interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt. He was criticizing his Democratic opponent for the 2024 presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris, when he pivoted to immigration, citing statistics that the Department of Homeland Security says include cases from his administration.

“How about allowing people to come through an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers? Many of them murdered far more than one person," Trump said. “And they’re now happily living in the United States. You know, now a murderer — I believe this: it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now. Then you had 425,000 people come into our country that shouldn’t be here that are criminals.”

Trump's campaign said his comments regarding genes were about murderers.

“He was clearly referring to murderers, not migrants. It’s pretty disgusting the media is always so quick to defend murderers, rapists, and illegal criminals if it means writing a bad headline about President Trump,” Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, said in a statement.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released immigration enforcement data to Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales last month about the people under its supervision, including those not in ICE custody. That included 13,099 people who were found guilty of homicide and 425,431 people who are convicted criminals.

But those numbers span decades, including during Trump’s administration. And those who are not in ICE custody may be detained by state or local law enforcement agencies, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.

The Harris campaign declined to comment.

Asked during her briefing with reporters on Monday about Trump’s “bad genes” comment, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “That type of language, it’s hateful, it’s disgusting, it’s inappropriate, it has no place in our country.”

The Biden administration has stiffened asylum restrictions for migrants, and Harris, seeking to address a vulnerability as she campaigns, has worked to project a tougher stance on immigration.

The former president and Republican nominee has made illegal immigration a central part of his 2024 campaign, vowing to stage the largest deportation operation in U.S. history if elected. He has a long history of comments maligning immigrants, including referring to them as “animals" and “killers," and saying that they spread diseases.

Last month, during his debate with Harris, Trump falsely claimed Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating pets.

As president, he questioned why the U.S. was accepting immigrants from Haiti and Africa rather than Norway and told four congresswomen, all people of color and three of whom were born in the U.S., to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump listens to opera singer Christopher Macchio after speaking at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)