Hit 'wakes up sleeping giant'

A 6-yard run by quarterback Jake Delhomme seemed to fire up the Panthers, but not so much because of the yardage, which set up a 45-yard field goal by John Kasay.

What got the Panthers peeved was when Bears linebacker Lance Briggs walloped Delhomme just after he slid feet first, which is supposed to protect quarterbacks - but only if they slide before the defender has committed himself.

Delhomme had his helmet knocked off and got up screaming for a penalty. Although there was no flag, the Panthers took notice.

"You know Jake, he's always fired up," said Panthers wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad. "He's always emotional. Obviously it was a penalty that we felt should have been called. Briggs may get a little mail. He may get a fine. If they try to take our quarterback out like that, that to me was not the way I would play. The Bears play hard. I'm pretty sure Briggs was not trying to hurt Jake, but he didn't make a smart play."

Safety Chris Harris said the Panthers rallied to Delhomme's defense.

"You don't wake up a sleeping giant," Harris said. "I was pretty upset, and it became more than a game after that. We wanted to get back at them because we're not going to take that. We're going to protect our quarterback. He's one of our leaders, and we're not going to let anybody get a shot like that on him."

Moose call: Muhsin Muhammad had a memorable day against his former team.

Muhammad's 11-yard reception in the second quarter gave him 10,002 career receiving yards. His apparent 32-yard TD midway through the third quarter was called back because of a holding penalty on rookie offensive tackle Jeff Otah, and he finished with a team-high 5 catches and 59 yards.

As usual, he had plenty to say afterward.

"Every win is emotional," said Muhammad, who played the previous three seasons for the Bears after nine seasons in his first go-round with the Panthers. "It's like a treasure, especially when you go through the battle of the game, the ebb and flow, the ups and downs. I think the fact that it was Chicago, the team I used to play for, makes it a little bit more special.

"I was able to pass a milestone of 10,000 yards against a team that I couldn't do it up there with."

Nice start: Linebacker and special-teams standout Darrell McClover got the Bears off to a flying start by blocking Jason Baker's punt on the Panthers' first possession that was returned 9 yards for a touchdown by wide receiver Brandon Lloyd to give the Bears a 7-0 lead exactly two minutes into the game.

"It wasn't really anything special," McClover said. "Coach (Dave Toub) called the play. I was the force guy. I forced it pretty good, and I got a block." McClover, who appeared to anticipate the snap came, off the far left edge and blew past Nick Goings before laying out to snuff Baker's punt. Lloyd caught the bouncing ball head high and raced into the end zone untouched.

"I knew I had it," McClover said. "I was just trying to hit it where we could get it."

Injury report: Devin Hester left the game after suffering a rib injury in the third quarter after a 24-yard kickoff return and did not come back.

"It's a rib injury, that's about all we know right now," Bears coach Lovie Smith said after the game.

"He couldn't finish the game, so that's cause for concern."

Safety Brandon McGowan suffered a left ankle injury and was in a walking boot after the game.