For all the concern surrounding Chicago’s secondary before the season, Week 1 at least gave the Bears something unexpected: rookie help.
Safety Dillon Thieneman and cornerback Malik Muhammad both got their first NFL starts against the Carolina Panthers, and both flashed enough to make the veterans around them look shaky by comparison. Muhammad opened at nickel after Xavier Woods was ruled out and Cam Lewis slid into Woods’ spot. Kyler Gordon’s injury situation remains unresolved, but that’s a separate mess.
The idea before kickoff was that Chicago’s defensive backfield might hold together. Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson had looked like dependable outside corners, and Lewis could theoretically keep things steady until Woods returned. Instead, the Bears walked away with a very different picture.
Thieneman was around the ball all day. His closing speed stood out, and so did the way he fought through blocks.
He showed up in the booth too, with Drew Brees and Adam Amin calling his name more than once. One of his biggest moments came in the fourth quarter, when he was in the right place at the right time to help force a fumble on Tetairoa McMillan.
Muhammad made his own splash before halftime, picking off Bryce Young for his first career interception. He also handled several coverage reps, including some on the outside, and looked comfortable enough to back up the physicality and footwork the Bears had seen from him in camp. For a fourth-round rookie who was thrown into the fire minutes before kickoff, he delivered exactly the kind of debut Chicago could have hoped for.
The veterans, though, were a different story.
Johnson and Stevenson both struggled badly on the outside, and Johnson’s performance was especially hard to process. He was beaten cleanly multiple times and looked nothing like the player Bears fans are used to seeing.
That stood in stark contrast to the way he finished camp, when Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen were praising how good he looked. After injuries derailed him last year, the expectation was that he’d come back right in 2026.
One game into the season, that confidence looks a lot less secure.
Stevenson enters the year in a contract season, the kind that usually sharpens focus because the next deal is hanging in the balance. He’s also not someone the Bears can casually dismiss from the long-term picture.
At least, that was the case before Week 1. Now both outside corners are carrying questions, while the rookies are giving Chicago something far more useful: hope.
And if Muhammad’s brief snaps on the outside while Stevenson was banged up are any indication, that idea might not be as far-fetched as it sounds. The sample size was tiny, but he held up.
No calls. No damage.
For a corner, that’s a good day.
Dennis Allen probably isn’t about to rip up the depth chart after one game. But if this keeps happening, the Bears will have to think hard about change. Stevenson may be gone after this season anyway, and if Chicago is looking for answers, developing the rookie who can help now and stay around longer starts to make a lot of sense.
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 Offense Just Backed Up Ben Johnson's Boldest Promise
The Bears wasted no time putting Ben Johnsons offensive vision on display in the season opener, rolling up 59 points against the Panthers in a game that turned into a showcase for how much speed and balance this unit can bring. Caleb Williams looked comfortable running the show, throwing for 269 yards and two touchdowns while adding 65 yards on the ground, and the backfield kept the pressure on all afternoon as DAndre Swift and Kyle Monangai combined for 224 rushing yards and four scores.
For a coach who has already talked about building the highest-scoring offense of all time, this was the kind of first impression that carries real weight. The Bears and Panthers combined for 96 points, the highest-scoring opener on record, and while one game does not define a season, it did offer a sharp early reminder that Johnsons ambitions are not just talk. The question now is how long Chicago can keep that pace when defenses start adjusting. [Read more 🡒]