CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera isn't sure if there was one defining moment, one defining game, that turned his team's season around.

Devin Funchess is certain.

It was a 17-3 loss at Chicago on Oct. 22. The Panthers, 4-2, were facing an underdog 2-4 Bears team with a rookie quarterback. It was one of those trap games that Rivera constantly warns players about.

The Panthers looked dreadful offensively. Quarterback Cam Newton looked dreadful as the Bears turned one of his two interceptions and his fumble into defensive touchdowns.

To be fair, the fumble was more the fault of rookie wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who took his eye off the pitch.

But to muster only three points against the Bears after averaging 28 points in the three previous games against New England, Detroit and Philadelphia was the low point of the season.

"We lost a game that we didn't take them serious enough," Funchess said. "We didn't play our type of football. After that, we just tried to get back to playing our game and doing the right things."

The Panthers (11-4) have won seven of their past eight heading into Sunday's regular-season finale at Atlanta (9-6). They have clinched a playoff spot for the fourth time in five years and can clinch the NFC South title with a win against the Falcons and loss by New Orleans (11-4) at Tampa Bay (4-11).

Should the Los Angeles Rams (11-4) and Minnesota Vikings (12-3) also lose Sunday, the Panthers could move into the No. 2 seed in the NFC. It's a long shot, at best.

Had the Panthers taken care of business against the Bears (5-10), they would have more control of their own destiny.

"The Bears game was the game we fully expected to win," Carolina outside linebacker Thomas Davis said. "We just didn't perform well enough. For us as a football team, that was kind of the point where we refocused in on the minor details and the things we need to get better at."

Carolina's season has been broken down to BC (Before Chicago) and AC (After Chicago). A little more than a week after the loss to the Bears, the Panthers traded No. 1 wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to Buffalo to get more speed on the field.

But the biggest difference before the Chicago game and after has been Newton.

The signal-caller left Chicago with 10 interceptions to only nine touchdown passes during a 4-3 start. He has thrown 12 touchdown passes and three interceptions during the eight games since.

One of those interceptions, last week against Tampa Bay, came when the ball popped off the chest of wide receiver Brenton Bersin.

Rivera said Newton's performance, more than the loss to the Bears, was the season's turning point.

"Part of it is our quarterback got healthier," Rivera said, pointing out that Newton started the season while still recovering from offseason surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff. "Once he got healthier, the new normal in practice [Newton being limited to rest the arm] got better for him and us. Our timing started to come.

"We were able to open the book even more and get him back involved in the running game."

The Panthers have averaged 27.8 points a game since the Bears held them to three. That, along with fewer turnovers and a defense that ranks seventh in the NFL, has put Carolina in position to win on a consistent basis.

The Panthers are 7-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less and 4-0 in games decided by a field goal or less, including a 20-17 victory against Atlanta on Nov. 5 in Charlotte.

Carolina lost six times by a field goal or less a year ago.

But it was the game they lost by 14 at Chicago in October that Funchess and others insist turned this season around.

"It was eating at us," Funchess said. "We made too many mistakes. The defense played lights out. We had too many turnovers on offense. After that, we tried to minimalize the turnovers and mistakes and play Panthers football."

Rivera didn't sense that his players took the Bears lightly. If they did, he takes full responsibility, because it's his job to make them take every opponent seriously.

"I don't know if I look at it as a turning point," Rivera said. "After Chicago, we played better. I'm not sure that was the catalyst to go and get us to playing better. But I do think it's a good place to measure how much better we've been."