The Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears went through a whole lot of numbers in their regular-season opener at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday. And in the end, the visitors who came away with the best of it—taking home a 59-37 victory in the highest-scoring Week 1 game in NFL history.
So, what do the numbers inside the film tell us about the wild shootout?
Here are Pro Football Focus' best and worst grades for the Panthers from the defeat . . .
Players listed recorded at least 10 offensive snaps or 10 defensive snaps.
Best of the offense
1. WR Jalen Coker: 90.1
2. RB Jonathon Brooks: 88.8
3. LG Damien Lewis: 87.0
4. QB Bryce Young: 80.7
5. TE Darren Waller: 78.5
Young passed for the second-most yards in his career (361) while scoring four total touchdowns. 138 of those
yards and two of those scores went to Coker.
Brooks ran for 14 yards on four carries and added a 48-yard reception. He also earned a solid 78.2 pass-blocking grade.
Waller, in his team debut, caught both of his targets for a combined 28 yards.
Worst of the offense
13. OT Stone Forsythe: 59.4
14. RT Monroe Freeling: 56.4
15. WR Brycen Tremayne: 54.6
16. WR Jimmy Horn Jr.: 52.9
17. WR Xavier Legette: 41.7
Freeling registered the second-lowest pass-blocking grade for Carolina (62.0) in his regular-season debut. He allowed four pressures (one sack) over 41 chances.
Legette dropped one of his two targets and finished with zero receptions.
Best of the defense
1. DL Bobby Brown III: 89.5
2. OLB Jaelan Phillips: 69.2
3. ILB Bobby Okereke: 66.9
4. DL Lee Hunter: 65.3
5. DL Aaron Hall: 64.2
Brown was credited with three pressures.
Phillips notched four pressures, including one of the team's two sacks.
Hunter tallied a team-high five pressures in his regular-season debut. The 2026 second-round pick and Okereke tied for the team's highest pass-rushing grade (80.7).
Worst of the defense
13. DL TeRah Edwards: 47.5
14. CB Will Lee III: 44.9
15. OLB Jeremiah Moon: 41.1
16. ILB Devin Lloyd: 37.2
17. DL Derrick Brown: 35.5
Lloyd was charged with a pair of missed tackles. He also allowed seven receptions, 58 yards and a touchdown over nine targets.
Brown was given a 54.6 grade for his run defense.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Best and worst PFF grades from Panthers' Week 1 loss to Bears
