First off, thanks to the regs for holding up the joint in the off-season. I know it can be brutal, but hey, it could be worse. We could be soccer fans!
Special shout out to those who submitted pieces like GP and I Bleed Navy and Orange. I may have forgotten one other, but forgive me, I’m typing this on the go.
With that in mind, are you ready for some football!
I usually post my Churchill inspired pep talk before openers, but I omitted that tradition in ’26 because no pep talk is necessary. For the first time in forever, us Bear fans are PUMPED. No more ‘winning the offseason’ expecting the lovable losers to crush our dreams by Turkey Day, and somehow getting embarrassed for the umpteenth time by the Puke while their fan base chuckles, “Bears Still Suck!”
No más . The Puke are now the suckees! and the NFCN will be a deathmatch.
What does ‘success’ even mean for the Bears this season? Anything short of the playoffs would be a failure, right? What if they lose in the WC – is that failure? or if they fall short of the NFC Championship Game – failure? It’s all relative, but if the core [esp Caleb] stay upright, anything less of the NFC Championship could arguably be a ‘failed’ season. That may seem severe, but Ben Johnson would judge harsher since he likely views anything short of a SB ring as a failure.
I Bleed expressed it nicely.
This is a weird day. Last year, we had optimism over a new coach, some decent-looking draft picks, and hope that the QB would take the Sophomore Step.
This year we have so much anticipation at the promise shown in Year One of the new regime, and the 4th-quarter heroics of the QB who actually did take a Sophomore Step with his TE who is going to rip up defenses this year.
Now, we have worries about the offensive line doing as well as it did last year. We have concerns about a tissue paper defense. We have concerns about not getting lucky again with turnovers. We have concerns the injury bug will bite the wrong guys.
But this year, we have memories of the crazy fun of the 2025 season, and we have realistic expectations that not only will this team be fun to watch, but it will be good. The team culture is insanely good; guys want to play for this team, and guys already on the team have drank so deeply of the BJ Kool-Aid that you know the networks will have cameras in the locker-room hoping the Bears will win.
On the Micro. Panthers are home dogs+3, but Cowherd apparently likes the Panthers regardless. Biggest concern? Take a wild guess.
It’s conceivable that our D is somehow WORSE than last season. Starting a rook SS. Byard the TO machine gone – His replacement Coby Bryant is likely sideline for year, so backup FS. Dexter gone. God knows what we’re going to get from Motivated Dayo, old Jarrett, hammy Booker, and a mishmash of plucky Dlinemen behind them. Glass-Gordon sipping at Margaritaville, so we’ll have a knock-off C.J. Gardner-Johnson or a rook at NB [I expect the Panthers to heavily target NB regardless]. Let’s be honest – the only thing that prevented the ’25 D from Trestman-tier were the key stops and clutch TOs. Can Dennis Allen summon that magic again?
Hope so. On the O side, I expect big points from them, but Rams, Pats, and SEA all struggled out of the gate [even 9ers before they got their Aussie legs under them], so we may see some rust before it gets kicked into high gear. Hopefully, it’s more like the 9ers than Seahawks, but I’ll take an ugly SEA win any Sunday.
Adam Schefter@AdamSchefter
·2h
A flashback to the Bears-Panthers 2023 blockbuster trade ahead of today’s matchup:
Panthers receive:
🏈 2023 No. 1 pick (Bryce Young)
Bears receive:
🏈 WR DJ Moore
🏈 2023 first-round pick (OT Darnell Wright)
🏈 2023 second-round pick (CB Tyrique Stevenson)
🏈 2024 first-round pick (QB Caleb Williams)
🏈 2025 second-round pick (WR Luther Burden)
‘Can Caleb be the new Jordan – maybe. But ppl forget how HARD it was for Jordan initially. He couldn’t beat the Pistons. He couldn’t beat the Celtics. Then he got Pippen and Phil Jackson. We see 90s SportsCenter and never see Jordan miss a basket, but at the beginning, it was really hard.’ – Cowherd
Does Caleb have his Pippen and Jackson? We’ll soon find out. Football’s back, baby!
Let’s roll. Bear Da Fook Down!
🐻👇🏈