Coming into the 2026 season, the national media wasn’t exactly high on the Carolina Panthers. In our Week 1 powers rankings roundup, the Panthers were in the 20s on every ranking.
The Carolina Panthers walked away Sunday with a 59-37 loss to the Chicago Bears, and it's easy to look at that score and focus on everything that went wrong.
When you score 59 points against a team in an NFL game, you’re going to see accusations of “running up the score.” So after Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson did that in Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers, he had to address those accusations to the media.
The major takeaway from the Carolina Panthers' Week 1 performance was the defense, or the lack thereof. Carolina had an awesome offensive performance, scoring 37 points and totaling 478 total yards, but still lost by more than three touchdowns.
A few trades have rearranged the NFL's backup quarterback ranks, but the dust has mostly settled. From a mix of recent first-round disappointments, aging vets, and young project types, here is how the league's QB2 ranks look for the 2026 season.
Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season is now behind us, and there were plenty of surprising results. One of the most surprising results was the offensive explosion that took place in Carolina.
The Carolina Panthers didn't get the result they wanted Sunday, falling 59-37 to the Chicago Bears in their season opener. There were plenty of things that went wrong, especially on defense, but that doesn't mean everything that happened was bad.
It’s actually occurred a little more recent than some may think. The last time the Carolina Panthers scored at least 37 points was in Week 18 of 2024. Dave Canales’s squad outlasted the Falcons at Atlanta in overtime, 44-38.
With Week 1 in the rearview mirror, the Carolina Panthers are off to another slow start. Carolina loses their season and home opener against the Chicago Bears in a 59-37 molly whopping.
The Carolina Panthers were unable to knock off the Chicago Bears in Week 1. The team can mostly thank their defense for that, as the Bears were able to do whatever they wanted.
NFL stars can't play forever, and retirement is coming sooner than later for some of the league's top players. These 25 players could call it quits following the 2026 season.
The Carolina Panthers delivered one of the NFL’s worst defenses performances ever Sunday. So the franchise made a defensive addition Monday after the Chicago Bears poured 59 on them.
Xavier Legette is one of the players on the Panthers under the most scrutiny. As a former first-round pick, the receiver has been blasted for not even coming close to living up to that status.
It was a tough Week 1 loss for the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, but one bright spot was a breakout game for wide receiver Jalen Coker. The Panthers and the Chicago Bears combined to put up 96 total points in their game on Sunday, setting a new record for the single highest-scoring Week 1 game in NFL history.
The Carolina Panthers suffered a truly historic embarrassment to start the 2026 season. Carolina got smacked around by Chicago, allowing a whopping 59 points in their season opener.
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales evaluates his team’s defensive performance from Week 1 and it’s not the kind of evaluation that will inspire confidence from the fans.
The Carolina Panthers got their 2026 season started on Sunday, and it wasn’t pretty. The team gave up 59 points to the Chicago Bears in what was genuinely one of the worst defensive performances in franchise history.
If you had to guess how the Panthers and Bears Week 1 matchup would go, you probably weren’t imagining almost 100 total points being scored. That’s exactly what happened, though, as the Panthers gave up 59 points and 552 total yards.
A lot went right for the Carolina Panthers’ offense in Week 1 against Chicago, but allowing 59 points to Caleb Williams led to Polymarket traders giving a sharp reaction.
According to Joe Person, the Panthers elevated S Isaiah Simmons and LB Jeremiah Moon to their active roster for Week 1. Simmons, 27, was a two-year starter at Clemson and won the Butkus Award as college football’s best linebacker in 2019.
Bryce Young is about to begin his fourth NFL season. Uncertainty looms over his future based on the lack of a Panthers extension in his case. A contract was discussed by Carolina this spring, but as the offseason progressed it became clear no long-term commitment would be forthcoming.
Per Spotrac, the Panthers are converting $12.2 million of DT Tershawn Wharton‘s base salary into a signing bonus and adding three void years to create $9.7 million in 2026 cap space.