The Bears didn’t just open their season with a win. They detonated the scoreboard.
Chicago hung 59 points on Carolina in a 59-37 rout on Sunday, and the 96 combined points made it the highest-scoring NFL season opener ever. For a team expected to have a dangerous offense, this was still something else entirely - a complete takedown of Carolina’s defense and a thunderclap start to Ben Johnson’s first bold statement.
That number smashed the old NFL mark of 88 points, a total that had stood in a game defined by Drew Brees and Ryan Fitzpatrick both throwing for 400-plus yards and three-plus touchdowns. On Sunday, Johnson’s group blew past that standard and made history look easy.
Caleb Williams was right in the middle of it. The Bears quarterback threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns while also adding 65 yards on the ground. He had the mustache and the production, and for one afternoon at least, plenty of the noise around him got quieter.
The ground game did even more damage. D’Andre Swift, fresh off his extension, and Kyle Monangai combined for 224 yards and four touchdowns, with both backs cracking the 100-yard mark. That kind of balance is exactly how Chicago starts to look like more than just a flashy passing team.
Johnson has been open about his goal of building the highest-scoring offense of all time, and that kind of ambition has drawn plenty of attention. But the Bears aren’t operating from the shadows anymore. After winning the NFC North in 2025, beating the Packers in the playoffs, and pushing the Rams hard, they were already on the radar entering 2026.
So if everyone is already coming for you, why not say exactly what you’re chasing?
Chicago won’t score 59 every week. That’s not the point.
The point is that this opener was a loud, emphatic first step, and it made Johnson’s target feel a lot less like talk. If the Bears keep anything close to this pace, the rest of the league is going to have to take the goal seriously.
In Other News...
Bears Defense Is Already Facing Heat After That Wild Opener
The Bears opened the season with a win, and the offense did enough to make it count, as DAndre Swift and Kyle Monangai both topped 100 rushing yards. But it was the kind of Week 1 game that left the defensive side under a sharper microscope than a team would prefer, especially in a matchup that turned into a shootout with Carolina and rewrote an old piece of NFL history in the process.
One sequence on social media became the flash point, with a Bears blitz against Bryce Young drawing attention after the defender appeared to ease up before reaching the quarterback. It was the sort of clip that can travel fast and linger even faster, and now Chicagos defense is already dealing with the conversation that follows a game in which 96 points were scored and the questions can easily outlast the win. [Read more 🡒]
Ben Johnsons Influence Is Already Showing Up Beyond The Bears
Declan Doyles first game on the Baltimore sideline came with immediate signs that his offensive ideas are already traveling well. The former Bears offensive coordinator helped the Ravens put together a strong showing against the Indianapolis Colts, including a 28-point first half, and that debut naturally invites a closer look at how much of his approach was shaped by his time around Ben Johnson in Chicago.
Johnsons influence has become part of the conversation not just because of what the Bears are doing, but because coaches who have worked with him are starting to show it elsewhere. Doyles new role in Baltimore adds another layer to an already interesting early-season thread, with both offenses flashing in 2026 and raising the question of how far that shared coaching tree can reach. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Already Face A Week 1 Secondary Problem Against Carolina
The Bears got through the final Week 1 injury report with one clear bit of good news: Rome Odunze is active for Carolina. But the bigger personnel note on defense is that safety Xavier Woods will not play because of a groin injury, leaving Chicago to shuffle its secondary before the season opener even gets rolling.
With Woods sidelined, the Bears may have to lean on rookie defensive backs sooner than expected and piece together a back end that was already going to be tested early. Chicago also listed Miller Moss, Tyson Bagent, Jamree Kromah, Jordan McFadden, Ozzy Trapilo and Jayden Loving inactive, so the first game of the season is already bringing a little more lineup uncertainty than the staff probably wanted. [Read more 🡒]