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Bears' Soft-Looking 2026 Opener vs. Panthers Suddenly Feels Far More Dangerous

Facing Carolina in the opener, the Bears will find Bryce Young and Co. no longer look like the struggling team their GM pickpocketed in a trade.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bryce Young gets knocked to the turf by Montez Sweat in a 2023 Bears win over Carolina.
Bryce Young gets knocked to the turf by Montez Sweat in a 2023 Bears win over Carolina. | Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

If the Bears are thinking about Carolina in their season opener the way it seems most fans on social media are, they'll be in big trouble and can expect embarrassment.

After all, the Panthers beat the Rams when they had to last season and the Bears didn't. They also lost to them when they had to, but they were almost as close to a victory in the playoffs as the Bears were.

Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz reported this as the Bears opener and while this would have been been a breather in the past and actually was in 2024, 36-10, these aren't the Panthers who got pickpocketed by GM Ryan Poles so the Bears could draft Caleb Williams. They've found a pathway to improvement and are division champs despite an 8-9 record last year.

The schedule release live tracker got plenty of action Wednesday, leading into Thursday night's full release.

Just like the Bears and Poles, Panthers GM Dan Morgan had little money to spend in free agency. Yet, Carolina came out of the offseason feeling it addressed major needs. Ask any Bears fan if their team did it and every one of them will point at edge rusher as a gaping hole.

Carolina had only about $10 million going into free agency, just like the Bears had very little after managing to get under the cap by cutting Tremaine Edmunds. Yet Carolina was still able to sign edge rusher Jaelan Phillips for four years and $120 million.

"This was a huge money-wise offseason and signals this team wants to compete, not just keep building incrementally," was how CBS Sports' Zachary Pereles described Carolina's offseason.

Opposite approach by Panthers

Meanwhile, the Bears have a "motivated" Dayo Odeyingbo on the edge after an Achilles tear in November.

It was obvious the Panthers saw the edge and defensive tackle as problems in the offseason and went right after this aggressively with both Phillips and second-round defensive tackle Lee Hunter. The Bears, meanwhile, added Kentavius Street and Neville Gallimore as their defensive line plugs. It's not quite the same thing.

Carolina needed an offensive tackle and drafted Monroe Freeling in Round 1, while the Bears had the same problem and are hoping Braxton Jones remembers how he used to play before his 2024 ankle injury.

The Panthers further aided their defense by drafting safety Zakee Wheatley from Penn State and signing free agent linebacker Devin Lloyd.

They have a dangerous receiver in Tet McMillan and running back Chuba Hubbard left an imprint on the Bears in their last game.

Of course, Bryce Young hasn't been the explosive comeback passer Williams has been, but definitely came on strong late last year once he started getting better blocking.

The Panthers not only beat the Rams, they almost did it twice. They had the lead in their playoff game with just under three minute left but allowed Matthew Stafford to save the day with a TD pass to Colby Parkinson inside of a minute.

It's the kind of team the Bears could get fooled by in an opener, should coach Ben Johnson not have them looking good, better and best.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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