Carolina Panthers pass rusher Jaelan Phillips called Sunday's performance against the Chicago Bears 'embarrassing'
The Carolina Panthers didn't get the 2026 NFL season off to a good starter.
Despite grabbing a 7-0 lead and then coming back to tie the game not once but twice on Sunday, the Panthers fell to the Chicago Bears 59-37. The Panthers offense was able to put up 37 points, scoring five touchdowns on Chicago's defense.
But it was Carolina's own defense that was the problem on Sunday, drawing a lot of criticism from fans and analysts around the league.
After the game, one of Carolina's newest additions sounded off on the performance and he wasn't happy about it. Edge rusher Jaelan Phillips was honest about the performance, calling it 'ugly' and 'embarrassing' to give up 59 points.
“Many times, yeah, especially towards the end,” Phillips said. “I mean, 59 is an ugly, ugly score to put up as a defense, so it’s embarrassing. But at the end of the day, you know, I do think that it’s a good opportunity for us. It’s a critical moment in the sense that, you know, getting beat this badly as a defense is really going to define us moving forward in terms of the urgency that we have to make corrections and to get better, so you know it’s all good, man.”
It was ugly out there for the Panthers, but Phillips was one of the bright spots in the game for the defense. He finished with a sack and had a few pressures on the day. Carolina brought him in to do just that and get to the quarterback.
But it's clear that there is a lot more work to do overall for the Panthers' defense to find success this season.
The good news for Carolina is that there is a lot of time left this season and the Bears' offense is projected to be one of the best in the NFL. However, there are no moral victories in the league and the Panthers won't accept that either.
They know they need to be better and having a team leader come out and say that is a good thing.
