With the Chicago Bears' Week 1 matchup against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, let's take a look back at last season. What stands out from the Panthers' matchup against the Los Angeles Rams?
Week 1 is officially here.
The 2026 NFL regular season will begin on Wednesday with the Seattle Seahawks hosting the New England Patriots for a rematch of Super Bowl LX. The Chicago Bears will travel on the road to play the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Week 1.
There's plenty of storylines that connect the two teams. The 2023 trade between the two teams that allowed each franchise to select the quarterbacks who will play against each other on Sept. 13: former No. 1 overall picks Caleb Williams and Bryce Young.
The Los Angeles Rams ended the Panthers' season in the wild-card round and then a week later eliminated the Bears.
Sticking with the Rams' connection, that's the most recent game for both teams. So, let's take a look at what happened in the Panthers' 34-31 loss to the Rams to see if anything from that matchup could carry over into the game against the Bears this season.
The Puka Effect
Not many teams in the NFL have a playmaker like Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua. The 6-foot-2, 216-pound pass catcher finished with 10 receptions for 111 yards and one touchdown. He also carried the ball three times for 14 yards and one score.
On the Rams' opening drive of the game, Nacua caught three passes for 40 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown. Nacua is lined up in the backfield on his first touchdown of the game. He runs a post route from that alignment and creates plenty of space against veteran safety Nick Scott.
When he rewatched this, my mind immediately went to Colston Loveland. The Bears' tight end is not Nacua. That's obvious. However, that alignment, route and mismatch on the safety is something that the 6-foo-6, 241-pound Bears playmaker is more than capable of executing in head coach Ben Johnson's offense.
I'm sure the Panthers have worked on cleaning up their coverage on that type of play, but it wouldn't surprise me if Johnson schemes up something similar when the team is in the red zone.
On Nacua's second touchdown of the game, Rams head coach Sean McVay called a well-executed screen that features key blocks from the play-side receiver, tight end and left tackle, along with a great individual effort from Nacua to finish in the end zone.
If Loveland is in your fantasy lineup, the matchup favors a big performance. Carolina's defense struggled to cover opposing tight ends last year, allowing the eighth-most receiving yards (1,019) and seven touchdowns to the position, according to Pro Football Reference.
Rookie Target
Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker finished with a game-high nine receptions for 134 yards and one touchdown. He made some explosive plays for Carolina's offense against the Rams.
Some of his bigger plays occurred when Coker lined up in the slot and went against the Rams' nickel cornerback. Right before halftime, Young connected with Coker for a 37-yard completion down the left sideline. Panthers rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan created a natural rub route to help create space for Coker, giving him plenty of space to catch the ball and run downfield for a huge gain.
Three plays later, Young ran for a 16-yard touchdown to bring the score within three points. The Bears must be aware of Young's ability to create plays with his legs.
Here's another example of Coker making a big play from the slot. This time he is lined up against Rams free safety Cam Curl. Coker created just enough separation on the corner route and Young delivered a perfectly thrown ball. This play gave the Panthers the lead with 2:39 left in the fourth quarter.
Additional Takeaways
Rams running back Kyren Williams scored a touchdown against Panthers linebacker Claudin Cherelus on a Texas route. (Caleb Williams talked about this play in his interview with Sean Evans on Hot Ones.)
Bears running back D'Andre Swift can execute that type of play and potentially produce similar results.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 24 of 42 passes for 304 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He also left some big-time plays on the field. Wide receiver Davante Adams beat safety Nick Scott on a vertical route down the left sideline, but Stafford overthrew he receiver.
The Panthers pressured the veteran quarterback at the end of the third quarter and a well-executed stunt caused Stafford to throw an interception.
Nacua played an overall great game, but he had a uncharacteristic drop right before halftime. If Nacua caught the ball, he likely would have scored, extending the Rams' lead to 24-14 going into the third quarter.
An important aspect of this game that can't be overlooked are the penalties. The Rams committed nine penalties for 83 yards, while the Panthers were flagged four times for 35 yards.
Towards the end of the second quarter, a 10-yard penalty negated a 11-yard pass to running back Kyren Williams. The Rams couldn't recover from that and ended up turning the ball over on downs at the Carolina 19-yard line, taking away potential points off the scoreboard.
The Rams kept the Panthers in the game with their own mistakes -- self-inflicted errors Chicago must avoid in Sunday's season opener.
Those are some of the top takeaways from Rams' wild-card win over the Panthers last season. Stay tuned for additional preview analysis ahead of the Bears-Panthers matchup.
