CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was just a bonus for Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen that Sunday afternoon’s victory came against his former team.

Olsen caught a 6-yard touchdown pass with 2:18 remaining as the Panthers defeated the Chicago Bears 31-24 at Bank of America Stadium.

“It felt good to win a game in that kind of situation,” Olsen said. “This wasn’t about revenge (for me) or anything like that.”

Quarterback Cam Newton’s second scoring strike to Olsen allowed the Panthers to complete a comeback from a 14-point hole.

“It reminds me a lot of last year, finding a way to win at the end,” Olsen said. “… They’re not giving away any trophies or holding any parades for this one game.”

Two Chicago turnovers in the last six minutes allowed the Panthers to score the tying and winning points. The Bears also lost a fourth-down fumble when quarterback Jay Cutler was sacked with 1:07 to play.

The Panthers (3-2) snapped a two-game losing streak.

“They usually say the most desperate team wins in this league,” Panthers safety Roman Harper said. “We were definitely the most desperate today.”

The Bears (2-3) were denied a third consecutive road victory.

Newton finished 19-for-35 for 255 yards. Olsen, a first-round draft selection of the Bears in 2007, caught six passes for 72 yards.

Cutler completed 28 of 36 passes for 289 yards.

“This one game didn’t determine our season,” Chicago offensive lineman Michael Ola said. “That’s why we have another game next week. If you are any type of team with pride, you can get knocked down, and it’s about how you respond.”

What the Bears said:

“There were many opportunities for us to close it out. We put our defense in a really bad spot. I thought they played really well given the circumstances and some of the field position we put them in.” — QB Jay Cutler after the team’s four turnovers in the 31-24 loss at Carolina.

What the Panthers said:

“This game was a testament to our resiliency. To get out of that losing streak and get the ball rolling the right way.” — S Thomas DeCoud as the Panthers snapped a two-game losing streak and avoided falling under .500.

What we learned about the Bears

1. There are lots of receiving targets for QB Jay Cutler, but he might be most comfortable at times hooking up with RB Matt Forte out of the backfield. Forte caught 12 of Cutler’s 28 completed passes in the loss at Carolina, accounting for 105 receiving yards.

2. There needs to be an upgrade in the pass rush considering there were times when QB Cam Newton of Carolina had plenty of time to throw despite the Panthers trailing for a large portion of Sunday’s game and makeshift situation at running back leaving the Panthers with a sketchy rushing attack. “We just didn’t close out,” Bears DE Jared Allen said. “We had opportunities to put this game away and we didn’t. We have to get better.” The Bears sacked Newton twice, while he made 35 passes.

–TE Martellus Bennett was limited to three receptions for 17 yards against Carolina. He had been a go-to target earlier this season, but the Panthers put an emphasis on keeping track of him and that seems to be something opponents are prone to do. “He hasn’t gotten a lot of touches over the last couple of games,” QB Jay Cutler said. “We’re calling the numbers. We are dialing up plays for him, for sure. He’ll turn it around.”

–S Danny McCray was called upon for extensive duty after teammate S Chris Conte left with a first-quarter concussion. McCray ended up with four tackles. “(I) work my way through practice to try to keep up during the week so I can be prepared for something like this on Sundays,” he said.

–WR Brandon Marshall didn’t have much to say after the loss to Carolina. His most telling comment might have been how the Bears lost the good vibes they had going early in the game. “Second half there was no rhythm at all,” he said. “First half, it was pretty smooth out there … second (half), I don’t know what happened.”

What we learned about the Panthers

1. There are going to be adventures with WR Philly Brown returning punts, but there’s going to be some payoffs as well. He made a 79-yard punt return for a touchdown against Chicago, getting up off the turf after he was knocked down to pick up a loose ball and sprint mostly down the sideline to the end zone. “Pick it up and run because there was no whistle,” he said of the play in which he drew and interference penalty on the Bears. “I (saw) a lot of people standing around, so I was shocked.”

2. They’re down deep on the depth chart at running back, but they didn’t shy away from trying to establish a ground game against Chicago. The Panthers had 17 rushing attempts (out of 64 plays) compared to the Bears’ 22 plays on the ground. The Panthers are without RB DeAngelo Williams, RB Jonathan Stewart and RB Mike Tolbert. RB Darrin Reaves was the top ground gainer with 35 yards on 11 carries.

–WR Jerricho Cotchery missed the previous home game two weeks ago with an injury, but he has come back with solid outings since then. He caught three passes for 46 yards in the victory against Chicago, yet it appears as if he’s rarely the primary receiver on many of the team’s plays.

–LB Luke Kuechly racked up a game-high 15 tackles, including six stops in the third quarter against Chicago. He had more than twice as everyone else in the game except for teammate LB Thomas Davis, who was credited with eight stops.

–CB Josh Norman’s second-quarter shoulder injury knocked him out of the game and there were reports that he also has a side injury associated with the other ailment. Either way it was devastating for the Panthers because Norman worked his way back into the starting lineup for the game, replacing CB Melvin White in that role.