With an opening weekend 50-burger, the Chicago Bears have announced they are not going to let regression come to them.
A record-setting 59-37 victory sets the tone for the 2026 Bears. For better or worse, the game sets the tone for this team and what the league and the fans are going to expect the rest of the way.
But it wasn’t all good. It rarely is in football. However, there was plenty worth revisiting, too.
If you’re new to this piece, I pick three players I see as rising and three I see as falling.
It’s a week-to-week exercise, but the performance over multiple games plays a part, too.
With that said, let’s get to this week’s stock watch.
Stock up
Ben Johnson, coach – I wasn’t sure my stock in this man could go up, but here we are. The man crush is deep. I knew he was the real deal as a coach and coordinator. But seeing the team put up 59 points, all on offense, is mind-boggling to me as a longtime fan of this team. Johnson is an incredible play designer and caller.
D’Andre Swift, RB – Fresh off his contract extension, Swift scored three TDs to start the season with a bang. On his way to 124 yards and three rushing touchdowns. His yards matched his Bears career high and the touchdowns were a new high for his entire career.
Jahdae Walker, WR – Walker was a three-phase contributor on Sunday. He had a highlight block on special teams, multiple great blocks on offense and Ben Johnson rewarded him with a 1-yard touchdown later in the game. With the receiver shuffling that was done in the offseason, there was some question about what kind of role Walker might have. But if this week was any indication, the Bears will be asking him to be a role player a lot this season.
Stock down
Tyrique Stevenson, CB – Stevenson enters a contract season with the opportunity to really carve out a role and earn his future in Chicago. But his first game felt like a lot of what we’ve seen over his first three seasons. Moments of flash, moments of getting beat and moments of getting banged up. Stevenson has to be more consistent to earn that second deal.
Luther Burden, WR – Burden’s game was solid overall. He made good catches and even had a couple of big pass plays. But his fumble on the opening drive set up a Carolina touchdown and was a terrible way to start the game and his season. I’m not worried long term, but this is still a mistake that has to be cleaned up.
Colston Loveland, TE – I think this was a one week blip. He had two targets and one of them was a miss by Caleb, so it’s hard to even get down on Loveland too much. But finishing the game with zero catches is surprising. And he was flagged for a holding penalty, too. Again, this isn’t one to be worried about, but someone has to land here.
Who’s stock do you think is up or down after week one? Let us know in the comments.
