As we thought they might, the Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears got into a wild shootout to begin the 2026 season. Unfortunately, the Panthers just couldn't keep up with the Bears' high-powered offense and eventually wound up losing, 59-37.
The worst of it was Carolina's rushing defense, as they surrendered almost 300 yards on the ground to go with a ridiculous six touchdowns. Their pass rush was no better, putting in a league-worst 16.1-percent pressure rate for Week 1.
They also made several big mistakes that didn't help. Bill Barnwell at ESPN details a few of them, here:
Carolina inadvertently doubled Rome Odunze over the middle of the field instead of passing him off from one defender to the next as Williams scrambled just before halftime,
leaving a free path for the young quarterback to escape . . . The Panthers also didn't get anybody into the A-gap on Swift's 32-yard run in the first quarter, then missed multiple tackle attempts on the newly extended back before he changed fields to pick up extra yardage... Plus, the Panthers helped bail the Bears out, including a roughing the passer penalty on second-and-20 and an offside that wiped off a Williams interception at the goal line.
It's not unusual to get outscored by a great offense, but these types of errors are the kind of thing that the Panthers simply can't afford to do against better opponents. Making just one or two mistakes is on the individual players, but having this many is on defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.
Then again, even if you erased all of their turnovers, penalties and mishaps, it probably wouldn't have been enough to keep up on the scoreboard this week.
Bottom line—the Panthers have to play much cleaner or they're not going to be able to hang with their stiffer competition. as the schedule rolls on.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: ESPN details Panthers' defensive lapses in Week 1 loss to Bears
