The Bears Game is not being sold as a coronation for Chicago, and that is probably healthy. The Chicago Bears enter Week 1 as 3-point underdogs at the Carolina Panthers, and that line tells you plenty: this is a real test, not a ceremonial first step for Ben Johnson in his first season as head coach.
Chicago did plenty last season to earn attention. The Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018, picked up their first playoff victory since 2010 and stacked up seven comeback wins, including the playoffs. That is the sort of profile that makes people start talking about progress. But progress has a nasty habit of becoming overconfidence if it is not immediately backed up.
Carolina, meanwhile, are coming off a 2025 run that looks better on the surface than the underlying numbers suggest. The Panthers returned to the postseason, finished 8-9 and won the NFC South through a three-way tiebreaker. That is an achievement, yes. It is also a warning that the margin for error may be much thinner than the playoff badge makes it look.
Why this Week 1 matchup already has bite
This is the tension in the Bears Game: both teams have reason to feel encouraged, and both teams have reason to feel nervous. Chicago’s comeback habit is useful until it becomes a warning sign about how often they were scrambling. Carolina’s playoff appearance is impressive until you look at the record and remember how much of it rested on a narrow path through the division.
The Panthers were not a powerhouse in 2025, even if the result sheet allowed them to dress it up that way. The Bears were not flawless, even if the late rallies made them look like a team with a special pulse. That is why Sunday matters. It is the kind of opener that can either confirm momentum or expose how fragile it really is.
There is also the Ben Johnson factor. A first season as head coach always brings curiosity, but it also brings scrutiny. Good teams do not just win their division and then talk about being ready for more. They show it early, on the road, in a game where the market has already decided they should be viewed as the less reliable side.
The uncomfortable truth for both teams
For Chicago, the challenge is obvious: last season’s breakthroughs mean very little if they cannot travel to Carolina and look composed from the start. For Carolina, the question is whether the 2025 playoff run was a genuine foundation or simply a neatly timed overachievement.
That is what makes this Bears Game so appealing. It is not just about who wins on Sunday. It is about which team looks more believable as a real NFC threat. The Bears have the better recent storyline. The Panthers have the home field and the better incentive to prove last year was no fluke. By Sunday night, one of those stories will look a lot sturdier than the other.
And if Chicago can beat a team that spent 2025 forcing its way into the postseason discussion, then the opening chapter of the Ben Johnson era will feel a lot less like a nice idea and a lot more like something worth taking seriously.
