The Chicago Bears are set to take on the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season, with so much to look out for in the game.
Carolina is coming off an interesting season that resulted in a losing record, but they still won the NFC South. The Panthers almost beat the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs (suffering a similar fate to the Bears), giving them hope for the future.
Chicago is playing a team with much more confidence and a stronger roster after spending money on guys like edge rusher Jaelan Phillips. How is that going to look in Week 1 for the Bears against that Panthers team?
Panthers expert tells Bears what to watch out for in Week 1
Cat Crave site expert Dean Jones shared his thoughts on the upcoming Week 1 game between the Bears and Panthers. Jones pointed out that it is all about the offense and how Panthers franchise quarterback Bryce Young plays.
"Winning the NFC South and pushing the Los Angeles Rams close in the playoffs confirmed the Panthers are improving. Dan Morgan's moves this offseason affirmed that he believes this team is close to competing, and even with some injury concerns, the talent is there to be competitive. Of course, their fate rests on Bryce Young. The quarterback is growing, but there is still a lot of hard work ahead. But if the Panthers' offensive line can keep the Bears' pressure packages out of the backfield, Brad Idzik should find ways for the signal-caller to excel. Whether they can contain Caleb Williams and the Bears' offense is another matter."
The Panthers and Bears share a bit of history from the wide receiver DJ Moore trade in 2023, which gave Carolina the number one overall pick that year. Chicago also landed the number one overall pick in 2024, leading to the Caleb Williams selection.
While there is some debate about who won the trade, both teams did pretty well. Both are playoff teams that won their division titles in 2025.
This will be an interesting battle between a strong Chicago offense and a strong Carolina defense in Carolina. It may come down to which average unit between the Bears' defense and the Panthers' offense plays better.
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Williams gives the Bears fan base plenty of reason to believe they can pull off an easy win against the Panthers, a team that they should beat on paper. A team with the kind of confidence Carolina has, though, can be a very dangerous thing to face.
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