The Carolina Panthers defense felt optimistic coming into 2026. Why shouldn’t they? The team spent vast resources in the offseason upgrading the unit, first with pass rusher Jaelan Phillips and again with linebacker Devin Lloyd. Then, for good measure, they used their 2nd round pick on nose tackle Lee Hunter. Everything pointed to this unit being much better than the average one they were last season. So you probably can’t imagine how it felt when the Chicago Bears walked into their building on opening day and hung 59 points on their heads.
It was brutal to watch. Carolina couldn’t stop them. The Bears racked up 291 yards on the ground, including 65 from quarterback Caleb Williams, who added two touchdowns. Then, for good measure, he threw for 265 and two more scores. Everything the Panthers tried didn’t work. It is hardly surprising that players didn’t take it well.
“Fifty-nine is an ugly score to put up as a defense,” said Phillips.
“However you feel, I completely understand. Because we obviously got paid a lot of money to come here and play well,” Lloyd added.
Brown and Horn were less diplomatic about it. The big defensive tackle took full ownership of his poor performance, dropping expletives along the way. Horn? He summed it up pretty well with two simple words.
The Chicago Bears can understand the feeling.
There was a time when their credibility on defense was severely shaken. Everybody remembers the nightmare 7-day span when they gave up 51 points to New England and then 56 to Green Bay. It was by far the darkest stretch for the Bears’ defense in franchise history. Yet they eventually found their way back to the light. Just a year later, they’d rebound to finish in the top 10 thanks to the arrival of Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator. The same can happen for the Panthers. Just as long as they don’t play the Bears again this season.
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The good news for them is that the rest of the division didn’t fare much better. New Orleans, Tampa Bay, and Atlanta all lost their respective games. So the slate remains clean in that regard. No doubt that defense hopes to come out with some serious heat next weekend. Washing the bad taste out of their mouths is priority #1. The Chicago Bears have likely already moved on to next week. They have a big divisional game of their own against the Minnesota Vikings. The biggest takeaway for them is that they now have a significant tiebreaker advantage for the NFC wild card spot.
The Bears are on pace to make history.
They’ve said multiple times that the NFL record of 606 points in a season is in their sights. It sounded ambitious at first. After what you just saw on Sunday, it may not be anymore. With 16 games left to play, the Bears must average 34 points per game the rest of the way to overtake the record. Last season, the Bears only cracked that number twice. Just to give you an idea of the monumental task in front of them. That said, one record that is in perfect position to overtake is the franchise record for points in a season.
That honor has been held by the 1985 Bears, who collected 456 points en route to their Super Bowl championship. To topple that one, this team only has to average 24 points per game the rest of the way. They can easily become the first Bears team in history to crack 500 points. Only 14 franchises have claimed that honor. It would be a monumental statement about this team’s new identity if they became the 15th.
