Bears’ 16-13 squeaker good for 2024 draft, but it leaves little else to celebrate

This was not what Bears coach Matt Eberflus needed to take some heat off himself and provide some reassurance that he’s the right guy for the job.

Facing one of the worst teams in the NFL on Thursday in the Panthers, it was an opportunity for the Bears to show they’re at least better than somebody. Instead, they were in exactly the right weight class — at the very bottom of the league.

This is right where the Bears fit, even after slipping past the Panthers 16-13 at Soldier Field, and that’s dispiriting in the second season of a rebuild. No clear thinking person feels good about the direction of this team under Eberflus’ watch.

At least he can claim the practical accomplishment of saddling the Panthers with another loss, which is important because the Bears get their first-round pick next year. The Panthers fell to 1-8 and now are slotted for the No. 1 overall pick. The Bears are in line to pick fifth.

The fact that this is the primary topic of discussion in a season when the Bears hoped to be clawing for a playoff spot is as pitiful as the parade of punts Thursday. The Bears were down 10-9 at halftime and mustered their only touchdown with 6:33 left in the third quarter, taking advantage of a possession that began at the Panthers’ 38.

‘‘It wasn’t the prettiest performance, but we found a way to win,’’ receiver DJ Moore said. ‘‘That’s all that matters in this league.’’

The victory was all that mattered Thursday, but it wasn’t promising for the Bears going forward. There’s a good chance they won’t face an opponent this weak the rest of the season, and they managed only 295 yards of total offense. That’s the fifth time in 10 games they’ve been held to fewer than 300.

Eberflus came out of the locker room and in his halftime interview on Prime Video promised, ‘‘We’ve got some things up our sleeve,’’ with a clever smile.

Whatever was up his sleeve got stuck. It still might be in there. Watching the Bears in the second half, it’s hard even to fathom a guess as to what he meant by that. He said in the postgame news conference he didn’t get a chance to unveil it.

Regardless, if the Panthers are a fairly even match for the Bears, imagine how this team will look Nov. 19 in a visit to the Lions, who are running away with the NFC North and have lost only to potential playoff teams.

Quarterback Justin Fields potentially coming back from his dislocated thumb will help, but it won’t transform the Bears.

The Bears’ problem is simply that they don’t have an overpowering strength. There isn’t anything they can count on to drive them to victory. They often have stopped the run, but that hasn’t led to much in the standings. Their secondary is arguably the best unit on the team, but rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson still is finding his way and the subpar pass rush undercuts all the talent playing behind it.

The Panthers are in a complete free fall and questioning everything, including whether they drafted the right quarterback in Bryce Young and hired the right coach in Frank Reich. Reich is their fifth coach, counting interims, in five years.

They’re where the Bears were last season, but the Bears seem stuck there, as well. Despite an injection of talent through the draft and free agency, it’s hard to identify meaningful improvement.

By this point of his tenure, Eberflus should’ve stacked up a little more on the positive side of the ledger. That would elicit confidence that even if the Bears look imperfect now, they’re on their way up. But it takes a microscope to find positives, and it shouldn’t be that way this far into the Eberflus era.