The Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears are counting down the days until they get to kick off Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season against one another.
It’s a highly intriguing matchup between two teams that believe they’re on the rise.
The Panthers won the NFC South Division in 2025 (albeit with an 8-9 record) and have quarterback Bryce Young trying to prove he deserves a long-term contract.
The Bears are led by Caleb Williams, who enters his third NFL season with a chance to stamp himself as a superstar.
It’s the kind of game that will be worth watching if you get the chance, and it will have a fascinating announcing crew to match the moment.
Panthers-Bears Announcers
On Wednesday, it was made official that the call for the Panthers-Bears game will feature Adam Amin and Drew Brees.
Amin is a veteran, polished play-by-play man.
Brees, of course, is one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, and he did most of his work elsewhere in the NFC South Division with the Saints.
The former QB has bounced around a bit in his post-playing career as far as announcing goes, but Brees’ Week 1 assignment makes clear that he’s going to be part of the team all year long for Fox.
This game is one of four games being broadcast in the early afternoon window on Fox. It’ll have the second-largest footprint.
The Falcons-Steelers game will take up the whole western third of the country’s Fox channels, as well as the greater Atlanta and Nashville areas, and basically the whole northeast.
The Panthers will have a footprint on the East Coast from about Roanoke down to about Charleston. The game will also be shown in Minneapolis, Kansas City, Chicago, Indianapolis and much of the northern midwest.
The other two Fox games in that window are Saints-Lions and Buccaneers-Bengals.
What About Greg Olsen?
The former Panthers tight end Greg Olsen has turned into a highly respected color commentator for Fox, but he won’t be on Carolina’s game in Week 1.
Fox has Olsen heading to Pittsburgh, where the Steelers host the Atlanta Falcons to open the season.
Olsen remains paired with Joe Davis. They’re the No. 2 Fox crew, behind the top pairing of Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady. The Burkhardt-Brady duo goes to Philadelphia in Week 1 to call the game between the host Eagles and the visiting Washington Commanders.
Some NFL fans don’t care much about announcers, but for others, they’re a big part of what makes watching a game enjoyable.
The league has a number of good crews right now, and Olsen is one of the rising stars.
For Week 1, Carolina won’t do bad in having Amin and Brees. They’ll do a solid job for a pretty big game between the Panthers and Bears.
Panthers-Bears Announcers Include Legendary NFL QB