Will Bears beat the Panthers? Our experts make score predictions - Bears Wire
The Chicago Bears will open the 2026 NFL season against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, where Chicago is looking to kick things off with a win in the second season under head coach Ben Johnson.
Chicago is coming off an impressive first season under head coach Ben Johnson, where the team went from worst to first with an 11-6 record, winning the NFC North for the first time in eight years and winning a playoff game for the first time in nearly two decades. Meanwhile, the Panthers are coming off an 8-9 season, which included a pivotal Week 18 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to secure the NFC South division title and their first trip to the playoffs in nearly a decade.
But can Chicago start the season 1-0 under Ben Johnson? Our Bears Wire staff make their game predictions for Bears-Panthers in Week 1:
It's always difficult to make predictions in Week 1 as we've yet to see any of these teams in full action, just look at the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams, who came out flat in their openers. For the Bears, they're coming off an impressive 11-6 season where they won the NFC North and a playoff game, but head coach Ben Johnson has made it clear that they're starting from square one this season with something to prove yet again. And this Week 1 matchup against the Panthers presents an opportunity to make a statement for Chicago. At first glance, this is a favorable matchup for the Bears to open the season, but it's far from a gimme game for a Panthers team coming off an NFC South title and with talent on both sides of the ball.
For Chicago's offense, it's all about getting off to a fast start, something they struggled with last season, and finishing the game. After all, last year's season opener had a fast start but finished with a fourth-quarter collapse. Quarterback Caleb Williams is entering his third season, and second with Ben Johnson, and he's poised to take the next step in his development. He'll lead a Bears offense that was top-three in rushing and top-eight in passing last season. There are a multitude of weapons on offense, but attacking the Panthers' run defense might be the key to getting things rolling behind the duo of D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai.
But it's Chicago's defense that's the biggest concern for this game and for the duration of the season as injuries have ravaged the secondary, where the Bears will be down two of their top defensive backs in Coby Bryant and Kyler Gordon. Carolina has some weapons on offense, most notably Tetairoa McMillan. Stopping the Panthers' running back duo of Chuba Hubbard and Jonathon Brooks will be key. But this might be one of the more favorable matchups for this Chicago defense this season.
Still, this game will be much closer than the previous meeting, where the Bears blew out the Panthers back in 2024. But Chicago is finally able to play a complete game and escapes Carolina with a 1-0 start.
Now that we’ve gotten past the NFL opening week ceremonies with the Super Bowl rematch and the NFC West showdown in Australia, it’s time for the main event of the weekend—at least for fans of the Chicago Bears. The highly-anticipated Week 1 game against the Carolina Panthers is here, a matchup that seems much easier on paper than it will be on the field.
This game featured two division winners who are both hoping to maintain control early on in the season. The last time the Bears faced a division winner in Week 1 while also finishing atop their own division was in 2011 when they soundly defeated the Atlanta Falcons. This time, they will have to face a rebuilt Panthers defense, some imposing weapons on offense, and battle the scorching Carolina heat.
Offensively, the Bears and quarterback Caleb Williams will need to show there’s no rust from the offseason. The starting offense played just one series all preseason long, though they had multiple joint practices to get ramped up. Injuries have decimated Carolina’s front four, and the Bears have a formidable rushing attack. If they can get D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai going, they will control this game.
Defensively, this is a group that has concerns at every level. They should be able to handle Bryce Young and Carolina’s offense, though. Young has yet to take a leap as a quarterback and historically struggles in Week 1. Their offensive line will be improved, but I expect Montez Sweat to make a statement early against rookie Monroe Freeling. And while the Panthers’ rushing attack could be a problem with Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Brooks, I’m not convinced it happens this early.
The Bears get a close win thanks to some timely takeaways on defense courtesy of Young, while Williams has a steady season debut to get Chicago their first Week 1 road victory since 2020 (and their first one in front of fans since 2008).
If Week 1 is all about making a statement and finding out who your team can be this season, head coach Ben Johnson is likely going to keep his foot on the gas pedal on Sunday afternoon. The biggest challenge for the Bears will be the defensive side of the ball, and particularly in this matchup, how the team’s secondary does against the Panthers’ big-sized wide receivers.
Carolina and Chicago will be linked for the foreseeable future as both teams traded with one another back in 2023, which ultimately landed Bryce Young in Carolina and Caleb Williams and a hefty package in Chicago. The Panthers made additions to their defense in the offseason, but they do not appear to be a unit that can shut down the potential of Chicago’s high-powered offense, while quarterback Bryce Young has shown to struggle with inconsistent play at times.
For the Bears to pull this type of victory off, they’re going to have to do the big things they emphasized in the offseason: Start early, don’t play hero ball, and lean into their high-powered offensive unit.
The Chicago Bears are coming into this game as the favorites. Starters don’t play much in preseason, so it’s hard to get a true grasp of what a team is before real games are played. The only thing we have to base it on is our knowledge of the roster, how they played last year, and what we saw at camp with the joint practices included.
The Bears, on paper, should be a better team than the Panthers. They should, in theory, win this game. However, every match is worrisome in the NFL. The Carolina Panthers are trying to build off a division title themselves. It will be two teams desperately trying to get off to a hot start.
In the end, Ben Johnson’s offense led by by third year quarterback Caleb Williams should be the difference in pulling out a hard fought victory. This has the makings of a week 1 letdown, which is common in the NFL, but Ben Johnson may have his guys prepared to overcome that.
Pulling out the 24-20 win to start 1-0 could set them up for success as September goes along. It just won’t be as easy as some folks think.
The first game of the season is always the hardest to figure out, especially given the very little preseason action the starters on either team had. But in the end, Chicago will come out on top.
Offensively, running the ball is going to be critical for success. Carolina’s strongest positional unit is their corners while the defensive line struggled last season. The Bears can use that to their advantage to get things going with D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. That will open up the passing game later in the game, allowing quarterback Caleb Williams to secure the victory.
Defensively, Carolina will not go down quietly. Despite a losing record last season, they won the NFC South and went to the playoffs and were able to defeat the Los Angeles Rams during the regular season. They will probably look to attack Chicago’s secondary, specifically going away from Jaylon Johnson, and will find some success. They’ll also probably take some deep shots to go after the safeties, especially Dillon Thieneman because he is a rookie and the Panthers have the receivers to take those shots.
It will be a close game, but in the end, the Bears come out on top by controlling time of possession with the run game and probably getting a turnover or two defensively.
Given the little we saw starters across the trio of preseason games, it’s difficult to get a gauge on where things stand. If perception is to be believed, though, it feels like the offense is in a really good place. While the Panthers will hardly be a pushover, this is one of the few games where the Bears are a clear-cut favorite.
In an ideal world, the offense gets moving immediately. Much of what we’ve heard throughout camp and the preseason is how much more on-time everything looks on offense, in addition to the comfort level of a number of key players on that side of the ball. Most notably, that’s Caleb Williams, who I believe will get his regular season off to a strong start in what is expected to be a Year 3 leap. I don’t think it’ll be flawless, but I’m inclined to think we’ll see this team start better than we did last year.
On the other side of the ball, a couple of key turnovers will help keep the Panthers off the board even if they’re able to move the ball. This is a team that turned it over at a top 10 rate in 2025, and I think that the aggression from Dennis Allen’s defense will help to nab the ball on a couple of different occasions.
It’s Week 1, there’s optimism, and I think that optimism will be realized in a confident win that serves as a springboard for the rest of the season’s first quarter.
