3 Things to Watch in Panthers Season Opener vs Bears

No matter how hard the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears may try, they cannot escape the ties that bind them.

Three years ago, Carolina traded the 2023 No. 9 and No.61 pick, DJ Moore, and their 2024 first-round pick to Chicago for the No.1 overall pick used to select Bryce Young. The Bears selected Caleb Williams No. 1 the following year.

Young, Williams and the trade have long been debated. Their stats have been used against each other, but that’s not the true barometer of the trade’s success. The true barometer will be Week 1 at The Bank as the two quarterbacks face off for the first time.

Here’s more of what I’m looking for in the Panthers’ season opener. 

Refurbished O-Line

The Panthers will be without bookend tackles Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton for week one and beyond. New starters Rasheed Walker, rookie tackle Monroe Freeling, and center Luke Fortner will be charged with the task of not only holding it down for week one, but doing so through the first quarter of the season. 

Inserting the newly signed Walker into the lineup should help with pass protection.  Last season in Green Bay, Walker allowed five sacks and 34 pressures, with a PFF pass-blocking rating of 70.0.  

While Walker is a solid addition, I’m particularly interested in seeing how Freeling will hold up in his debut, because I’m looking for the Bears’ Montez Sweat to target Freeling early and often – exploiting the rookie’s weaknesses. Sweat finished with 10 sacks last season and is expected to line up on both sides of the line. If Chicago uses Sweat on both sides to hunt mismatches, Carolina can utilize their running backs and tight ends to chip Sweat before their routes.

The line should also be disciplined and stay ‘home’. What I mean by that is, if the Panthers were to use Walker only to pick up Sweat to protect Freeling from a mismatch requires constant motion, which would leave a banged-up line more vulnerable to defenses.

T-Mac In The Slot

One feature of Idzik’s system that I’m intrigued by is featuring Tetairola McMillan in the slot. Against the Bears, this can be a huge advantage for the Panthers.  Jaylon Johnson is Chicago’s premier cornerback. If Idzik moves McMillan to the slot, the Panthers can take advantage of smaller slot defenders by putting the 6-foot-5, 210-pound McMillan there. Using McMillan as a jumbo slot receiver helps the O-line as well, since he can run dig routes, slants and outs across the middle.  It ties to the o-line, because it enables Young to get the ball out of his hands quicker – neutralizing the Bears’ pass rush.

Limit Williams To The Pocket

According to Mike Jackson, Ben Johnson’s offense likes to keep Williams mobile.

“They like to get him to move around. Let him sit in the pocket sometimes, put him on boots,” he said.

“Once he gets out of the pocket, that’s the way he comes alive and can make all the throws on the run. You gotta do a good job of containing him.”

So what does that look like in Ejiro Evero’s 3-4 scheme? Evero could (and possibly should) play tight man coverage in the secondary and be disciplined in their pass rush.

Despite Williams’ tendency to function out of the pocket, he holds the ball for 3.25 seconds per dropback; the defense can deploy a tight zone to receivers. Carolina can use this to their advantage by leveraging coverage sacks. The extended window would allow Jalen Phillips or Princely Umanmielen to tag Williams on coverage sacks.

The defense could also push the pocket inward instead of shooting for sacks, creating opportunities for Williams to escape the pressure.