CHICAGO – The Carolina Panthers suffered yet another frustrating loss and, given the events leading up to it, may have opened wounds that run all the way to the top of the organization.

But the one thing that may have come out of the latest letdown is that their most important player hit rock bottom and seemed to cope with it. In the aftermath of a 23-22 loss to the 6-1 Chicago Bears on a game-winning field goal as time expired, there were plenty of guesses about which emotional state Cam Newton might put on display.

Newton responded with determination in the face of his team falling to 1-6, five of the losses by six points or less. On display was a leader who hinted at his emotions, but never put them on display. And make no mistake, he showed himself to be a leader.

“There are a lot of emotions I have right now, but I’m not going to get into that,” Newton said following Carolina’s fifth-straight loss. “I could care less what they decide to do. My job is to be the best player that I can be, whatever they put in. I’m just going to go back doing the things they coach up on. Whether it is [offensive coordinator Rob] Chudzinski, [head] coach [Ron] Rivera, [quarterbacks] coach [Mike] Shula, and get prepared for Washington.”