Game recap

Bears @ Panthers

2026 Wk 1 · CAR 37, CHI 59

Thirty-seven points normally wins. Losing by 22 while scoring that many means the other offense was not slowed at all, and Chicago scored on eight touchdown drives plus a field goal against the same defense that ranked 23rd in EPA allowed last season. For Carolina the number to fix is not the offense, which outproduced its whole 2025 season. It is a defense that gave up 552 yards and 59 points at home.

FanIQ Research · September 14, 2026 · 7 facts, every one from the play-by-play

Carolina scored 37 and lost by 22. In 7,290 games since 1999, no team had scored 37 and lost by more than 15.

Rare

Largest losing margins by a team that scored 37 or more, 1999 to 2026

Season	Week	Game	Score	Margin
2026	1	CHI @ CAR	CHI 59, CAR 37	22
2019	4	TB @ LA	TB 55, LA 40	15
2017	6	DET @ NO	NO 52, DET 38	14
1999	Divisional	MIN @ LA	LA 49, MIN 37	12
2004	14	KC @ TEN	KC 49, TEN 38	11
2020	4	CLE @ DAL	CLE 49, DAL 38	11
2020	Wild Card	CLE @ PIT	CLE 48, PIT 37	11
2004	12	CLE @ CIN	CIN 58, CLE 48	10

Highest combined scores, 1999 to 2026

Season	Week	Game	Score	Total
2004	12	CLE @ CIN	CIN 58, CLE 48	106
2018	11	KC @ LA	LA 54, KC 51	105
2015	8	NYG @ NO	NO 52, NYG 49	101
2013	5	DEN @ DAL	DEN 51, DAL 48	99
2007	2	CIN @ CLE	CLE 51, CIN 45	96
2009	Wild Card	GB @ ARI	ARI 51, GB 45	96
2026	1	CHI @ CAR	CHI 59, CAR 37	96

Bryce Young threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns, Carolina ran 62 offensive plays at plus 0.182 EPA per play, and it still lost by three scores. A team has scored 37 or more and lost 81 times since 1999. The previous widest margin in that group was 15. The 96 combined points tie for the fifth highest total in any game since 1999, regular season or playoffs.

Why it matters. Thirty-seven points normally wins. Losing by 22 while scoring that many means the other offense was not slowed at all, and Chicago scored on eight touchdown drives plus a field goal against the same defense that ranked 23rd in EPA allowed last season. For Carolina the number to fix is not the offense, which outproduced its whole 2025 season. It is a defense that gave up 552 yards and 59 points at home.

59 points: the most any Bears team has scored in a game since 1999, and a fifth straight win over Carolina.

Milestone

Highest scoring Bears games, 1999 to 2026

Season	Week	Opponent	Site	CHI pts	Opp pts
2026	1	CAR	Away	59	37
2012	9	TEN	Away	51	20
2008	7	MIN	Home	48	41
2009	4	DET	Home	48	24
2018	4	TB	Home	48	10
2025	9	CIN	Away	47	42
2013	14	DAL	Home	45	28
2006	14	LA	Away	42	27

Bears versus Panthers, every meeting since 2002

Season	Week	Score	Winner	Total
2002	16	CAR 24, CHI 14	CAR	38
2005	11	CHI 13, CAR 3	CHI	16
2005	Divisional	CAR 29, CHI 21	CAR	50
2008	2	CAR 20, CHI 17	CAR	37
2010	5	CHI 23, CAR 6	CHI	29
2011	4	CHI 34, CAR 29	CHI	63
2012	8	CHI 23, CAR 22	CHI	45
2014	5	CAR 31, CHI 24	CAR	55
2017	7	CHI 17, CAR 3	CHI	20
2020	6	CHI 23, CAR 16	CHI	39
2023	10	CHI 16, CAR 13	CHI	29
2024	5	CHI 36, CAR 10	CHI	46
2026	1	CHI 59, CAR 37	CHI	96

The previous Bears high across 27 seasons was 51 at Tennessee in 2012. Chicago passed it with 6:32 still to play, when Caleb Williams' 1 yard touchdown pass to Jahdae Walker made it 52. The series with Carolina now stands 8 wins to 5 for Chicago, with the last five all going to the Bears (2017, 2020, 2023, 2024, 2026). The 96 combined points beat the old series high of 63, from a 34 to 29 Chicago win in 2011, by 33.

Why it matters. Chicago finished 2025 eighth in offensive EPA per play, so a big scoring day was plausible, but the franchise had not cleared 51 in this whole span. Doing it on the road in Week 1 says the offense picked up where its 47 point game at Cincinnati left off. The series note is context for Carolina: it has lost five straight to one opponent, and the last two by 26 and 22.

Six rushing touchdowns and two 100 yard backs. Only five games since 1999 had a team run for six scores.

Rare

Team games with 6 or more rushing touchdowns, 1999 to 2026 (incl. postseason)

Season	Week	Team	Opponent	Rush TD	Rush yds
2004	7	KC	ATL	8	271
2020	16	NO	MIN	7	264
2024	Conf. Champ.	PHI	WAS	7	229
2013	Divisional	NE	IND	6	234
2017	10	NO	BUF	6	298
2026	1	CHI	CAR	6	291

Chicago rushing, this game

Player	Carries	Yards	TD	Per carry
D'Andre Swift	18	124	3	6.9
Kyle Monangai	10	100	1	10.0
Caleb Williams	10	65	2	6.5
Luther Burden III	1	2	0	2.0

Bears passers with 2+ passing and 2+ rushing touchdowns in one game, 1999 to 2026

Season	Week	Opponent	Passer	Pass yds	Pass TD	INT	Rush yds	Rush TD
2010	Divisional	SEA	Jay Cutler	274	2	0	43	2
2022	10	DET	Justin Fields	167	2	1	147	2
2026	1	CAR	Caleb Williams	269	2	0	65	2

Chicago ran 39 times for 291 yards, 7.46 per carry, at plus 0.378 EPA per run. Swift scored three times, Monangai hit 100 on the nose with a 61 yard touchdown, and Caleb Williams scrambled for scores of 9 and 29 yards. Swift and Monangai each topped 100 in the same game for the second time; the first was Week 13 last season against Philadelphia. Williams is the third Bears passer since 1999 with two passing and two rushing touchdowns in a game, after Jay Cutler in the 2010 playoffs and Justin Fields in 2022.

Why it matters. Carolina's run defense ranked 24th in EPA allowed last season, and Chicago's run game ranked fourth, so the matchup pointed this way. The scale did not. Six rushing scores in a game had happened five times in 27 seasons, and in none of those five games did the opponent score more than 33; Carolina scored 37 and Chicago still won by three scores. Two backs over 100 in the same game is also uncommon (60 team games since 1999), and Chicago has now done it twice with the same pair.

Chicago's 0.409 EPA per play was five times its 2025 rate. Carolina's 0.182 would have led the NFL last year.

Comparison

This game, offensive EPA per play (pass and run plays)

Team	Plays	EPA/play	Success%	Yards
CHI	70	+0.409	54.3%	552
CAR	62	+0.182	48.4%	478

Offensive EPA per play, 2025 regular season, top 5 plus both teams

Rank	Team	Plays	EPA/play
1	NE	1017	+0.159
2	LA	1056	+0.145
3	BUF	1065	+0.136
4	GB	993	+0.115
5	DAL	1104	+0.098
8	CHI	1096	+0.079
26	CAR	996	-0.039

Chicago came in at plus 0.079 per play across 1,096 regular season plays in 2025, eighth in the league. Sunday it averaged plus 0.409 across 70 plays. Only 209 of the 14,527 team games since 1999 with at least 40 offensive plays have beaten that number. Carolina, 26th a year ago at minus 0.039, posted plus 0.182, above the 2025 league leader's full season rate.

Why it matters. Higher EPA per play is better, and both offenses moved far above their 2025 baselines in the same game, which points at two defenses rather than two offenses. Chicago's mark sits in the top 1.5 percent of all team games in 27 seasons, so expect it to fall back; a full season at even half that rate would have led the league in 2025. Carolina's number is the more useful one for fans of that team: the offense that ranked 26th a year ago just played like the best unit in football and lost by 22.

Two touchdowns in every quarter. Since 1999 only the 2023 Dolphins' 70 point game had an offense do that.

Split

Chicago offense by quarter (pass and run plays)

Qtr	Plays	EPA/play	Yards	TD
1	18	+0.525	169	2
2	19	+0.119	146	2
3	17	+0.454	127	2
4	16	+0.577	110	2

Carolina offense by quarter (pass and run plays)

Qtr	Plays	EPA/play	Yards	TD
1	12	+0.011	58	1
2	14	+0.597	161	2
3	18	-0.041	100	1
4	18	+0.195	159	1

Offenses with 2+ offensive touchdowns in all four quarters, 1999 to 2026

Season	Week	Team	Score	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
2023	3	MIA	MIA 70, DEN 20	2	3	2	3
2026	1	CHI	CHI 59, CAR 37	2	2	2	2

Chicago never had a quiet quarter. Its lowest EPA per play in any period was plus 0.119, in the second quarter, and it scored twice in that one too. Carolina's game ran through one hot quarter: 161 yards at plus 0.597 in the second, when it scored 17 points and tied the game twice, then minus 0.041 across 18 plays in the third. Chicago converted 10 of 14 third downs; Carolina converted 4 of 9.

Why it matters. Big scoring games usually come from one or two explosive quarters and some garbage time. This one did not: Chicago's four quarters were all between 16 and 19 plays and all produced two touchdowns, which is why the total kept climbing after the game was decided. Carolina's problem was the third quarter: its 18 plays produced 100 yards and only the tying score, while Chicago scored twice after that tie to go from 31-31 to 45-31.

Tied 31-31 with 18:08 left, then 28 to 6. Games tied that late end 20 points apart about 1 percent of the time.

Trend

Every tie after the opening kickoff

Qtr	Clock	Tying play	Score
1	2:03	Swift 1 yd run	7-7
2	8:51	Young 7 yd scramble	21-21
2	2:39	Fitzgerald 44 yd FG	24-24
3	9:06	Hubbard 2 yd run	31-31

Scoring after the last tie

Qtr	Clock	Team	Play	Score after
3	3:08	CHI	Swift 1 yd run	CHI 38, CAR 31
3	0:50	CHI	Monangai 61 yd run	CHI 45, CAR 31
4	6:32	CHI	Williams 1 yd pass to Walker	CHI 52, CAR 31
4	4:05	CAR	Young 8 yd pass to Coker, PAT blocked	CHI 52, CAR 37
4	3:47	CHI	Swift 28 yd run	CHI 59, CAR 37

Games tied on a snap with 20:00 or less left that ended 20+ points apart, 2015 to 2026

Season	Week	Score	Margin	Last tie, seconds left
2017	4	SEA 46, IND 18	28	1039
2017	14	DAL 30, NYG 10	20	465
2017	16	NE 37, BUF 16	21	961
2018	1	LA 33, LV 13	20	903
2024	8	PHI 37, CIN 17	20	1071
2024	11	NO 35, CLE 14	21	809
2024	14	MIN 42, ATL 21	21	784
2026	1	CHI 59, CAR 37	22	1088

Carolina led once, 7-0 on Chuba Hubbard's catch at 11:40 of the first quarter. Chicago went ahead 14-7 on Cole Kmet's 22 yard touchdown at 14:05 of the second and never trailed again, but Carolina pulled level three more times, the last at 31-31 with 9:06 left in the third. From that snap Chicago scored 28 points on four straight possessions with a touchdown. Since 1999, 1,494 games were tied on a snap with 20 minutes or less remaining; 17 of them finished 20 or more points apart, and only 7 finished 22 or more apart.

Why it matters. A game tied in the third quarter is almost always decided by a score or two, because both teams have already shown they can move the ball on each other. The exception happens when one offense keeps going and the other stalls, which is exactly the third quarter split above: Chicago 127 yards and two touchdowns, Carolina 100 yards and none after the tying run. The blocked extra point at 4:05 is a small part of the margin, but the 21 unanswered points before it are the whole story.

361 yards and 3 TDs in a 22 point loss: Bryce Young is the sixth passer since 1999 to do that losing by 20.

Anomaly

Passers with 350+ yards and 3+ TD passes in a loss of 20 or more points, 1999 to 2026

Season	Week	Passer	Team	Yards	TD	INT	Score
2009	9	Jay Cutler	CHI	369	3	1	ARI 41, CHI 21
2010	10	Matt Cassel	KC	469	4	0	DEN 49, KC 29
2012	4	Ryan Fitzpatrick	BUF	350	4	4	NE 52, BUF 28
2013	9	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	400	4	2	NE 55, PIT 31
2014	13	Colt McCoy	WAS	392	3	0	IND 49, WAS 27
2026	1	Bryce Young	CAR	361	3	1	CHI 59, CAR 37

Carolina receiving, this game

Player	Targets	Rec	Yards	TD
Jalen Coker	9	8	138	2
Tetairoa McMillan	8	5	75	0
Jonathon Brooks	2	1	48	0
Chuba Hubbard	3	3	38	1
Darren Waller	2	2	28	0
Tommy Tremble	5	3	25	0
Mitchell Evans	2	1	9	0
Xavier Legette	2	0	0	0
Jimmy Horn Jr.	1	0	0	0

Young went 23 of 37 with one interception and added a 7 yard scrambling touchdown. Jalen Coker caught 8 of 9 targets for 138 yards and both of his scores, including a 51 yard touchdown that cut the deficit to 21-14 in the second quarter. Carolina's dropbacks produced plus 0.251 EPA per play. The five earlier passers on this list all lost by at least 20 as well; the last was Colt McCoy in 2014.

Why it matters. A 361 yard, three touchdown day is normally a winning line, and Carolina's passing game outperformed its 2025 form by a wide margin. The reason it did not matter is the other side of the ball: Chicago scored on eight touchdown drives, so every Carolina touchdown was answered within minutes. For Carolina the encouraging part is that the yards came against a defense that ranked 19th in EPA allowed last season, not against a bottom five unit.

FanIQ answers any NFL stats question with receipts, on your phone.

Get FanIQ free Get it on Google Play