The Carolina Panthers will face the Chicago Bears in the first week of the 2026 NFL season. Kickoff is set for Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET at Bank of America Stadium.
The matchup marks the first time the Panthers and Bears will play each other in a season opener in series history.
Carolina and Chicago have played each other in 12 regularseason games all-time, with the Bears holding a 9-3 advantage. The most recent matchup was in Week 5 of the 2024 season, when Chicago defeated Carolina, 36-10, at Soldier Field. The Panthers are 3-2 when hosting the Bears at home.
The two clubs have played each other once in the postseason, the 2005 NFC Divisional Round, where the Panthers beat the Bears, 29-21, at Soldier Field.
The Matchup
About Carolina
- Under Head Coach Dave Canales, the Panthers have posted an 11-6 record (.647) in one-score games, the fifth-best winning percentage in the league since 2024, including seven wins in 2025, tied for the third most in the league
- The Panthers finished the 2025 regular season with just 95 accepted penalties (5.59 per game), tied for the fourth fewest in the league.
- In 2025, QB Bryce Young posted career highs with eight wins, 3,011 passing yards, a 63.6 completion percentage, 23 passing touchdowns, a 2.1 touchdown/interception rate, an 87.8 passer rating, and the lowest sacks per dropback percentage of his career (5.0%).
- WR Tetairoa McMillan, the Panthers 2025 first-round pick (eighth overall), recorded 1,014 receiving yards, tied for the 14th most in the league, and the most among all rookies in 2025.
- With his 511 rushing yards in 2025, RB Chuba Hubbard has recorded 500+ rushing yards in four of his first five seasons in the league, including each of the last three.
- In 2025, DT Derrick Brown, set a new single-season best with 5.0 sacks and matched his single-season high with seven passes defensed.
- Selected to the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive season in 2025, CB Jaycee Horn has 10 career interceptions, including a single-season best five in 2025, tied for the second most in the league, and tied for the most among cornerbacks.
- In coverage as the nearest defender in 2025, CB Mike Jackson allowed a 68.7 passer rating, the fifth-lowest in the league among the 47 cornerbacks with 400+ coverage snaps as an outside corner.
- Since entering the league in 2022, LB Devin Lloyd ranks second among all linebackers in the NFL in interceptions and is tied for fifth in passes defensed.
About Chicago
- Chicago enters 2026 under the leadership of second-year Head Coach Ben Johnson. In his first year at the helm of the Bears, Johnson led Chicago to an NFC North Division title and 12 total wins, including 11 in the regular season.
- Chicago’s offense averaged 307.3 passing yards per game in the 2026 preseason, the most passing yards per game by any team in the NFL this preseason.
- Chicago accumulated 33 total takeaways last season, the most by any team in the NFL.
- QB Caleb Williams set a franchise record with 3,942 passing yards in 2025, adding a 361-yard passing performance in the NFC Wild Card Round win over Green Bay, a single-game club record in the postseason.
- QB Caleb Williams registered six fourth-quarter comebacks last season, the most by any QB in the NFL and the most in a season in team history.
- Rookie TE Colston Loveland led the Bears in receptions (58) and receiving yards (713) in the regular season, as his six receiving scores shared the lead among all rookie TEs. Loveland totaled 597 receiving yards over the final 10 weeks of the regular season, the most by any rookie in the NFL.
- RB D’Andre Swift (1,087) and RB Kyle Monangai (783) lead the rushing attack, as Chicago was the only team in the NFL with two 750+-yard rushers in 2025, with the help of OL Joe Thuney, who was named the first-ever NFL Protector of the Year at NFL Honors.
- Since entering the league in 2020, RB D’Andre Swift has the fourth most targets, fourth most receptions, fourth most receiving yards and sixth most receiving first-downs among all NFL running backs.
How to Watch
Kickoff:Ā 1:00 p.m. ET FOX: Play-by-Play: Adam Amin; Analyst: Drew Brees; Sideline: Kristina Pink
Radio:Ā WRFX 99.7FM in Charlotte market āPlay-by-Play: Anish Shroff; Analysts: Luke Kuechly & Jake Delhomme; Sideline: Kristen Balboni
Per Release
Panthers Down Lions In Primetime Shootout