The Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears both won their divisions last season.
They’ll open the 2026 campaign against one another as Carolina hosts Chicago on Sunday in Week 1 of the NFL season.
Their division titles came differently, of course.
The Panthers notably won the NFC South Division with a record of just 8-9.
Meanwhile, the Bears were 11-6 after a rough start to the season, holding off a high-powered NFC North that also includes the Packers, Lions and Vikings.
Last year is in the past, though, meaning Week 1 is a chance for both teams to start to prove what they’re made of for the new campaign.
The Bears are favored by about a field goal despite being on the road, and that’s the side ESPN’s experts are on heading into the weekend.
Panthers-Bears Predictions
ESPN’s weekly preview had three experts predict the score of every Week 1 game, with Eric Moody, Seth Walder and Pam Maldonado sharing what they think.
All three of them picked the Bears to beat the Panthers, although only one of them has the Bears covering.
Maldonado thinks the Bears will win 27-17.
Moody has it closer, a 24-21 Chicago win over Carolina.
And Walder? He’s got Bears 21, Panthers 20 in a thriller.
The ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) has the Bears winning this matchup 60.2% of the time by an average of 2.8 points.
“The Bears have been road favorites only once since 2022 (-2.5 at the Bengals last season), but there are reasons to like them in Carolina,” Maldonado writes. “The Panthers’ improvement last season came with a favorable schedule and a lot of close-game success. Now QB Bryce Young goes from facing one of the easiest pass-defense schedules to the second-hardest, including this Chicago team that excelled at takeaways in 2025.”
Panthers Up Against History
The Panthers have some serious Week 1 problems.
For one, they’ve lost four consecutive season openers, according to ESPN, which is the second-longest active streak in the NFL behind the Tennessee Titans, who have lost in Week 1 five years in a row.
The Panthers also have the worst winning percentage in Week 1 since their inception.
Carolina wins just 34.3% of its opening games, with a mark of 11-20 since they joined the NFL in 1995.
The Bears and Panthers have never played in Week 1 before, so it’ll be a new start for the both of them.
Chicago also lost in Week 1 last season, when the Minnesota Vikings beat them, 27-24.
The Panthers were convincing losers in Week 1 of the 2025 season as the Jacksonville Jaguars handled them, 26-10.
Which trends will matter this year? That will only be determined on the field on Sunday when former No. 1 overall picks Bryce Young and Caleb Williams match up for the first time in the NFL.
Panthers-Bears Predictions: ESPN Experts Project Same Outcome in Week 1