The Optimist: Worst Luke Kuechly tribute ever

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 13: Jimmy Horn Jr. #15 of the Carolina Panthers is tackled against the Chicago Bears during the first half of the game at Bank of America Stadium on September 13, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Former Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, who famously wore the #59 jersey for his entire career, entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. He was one of the best defenders in Panthers history, famous for being a stout, athletic, and cerebral linebacker who turned the middle of the field into a nightmare for opposing offenses. Yesterday, in a loving, if misguided, tribute to Luke's absence on the field, the Carolina Panthers kept anything stout, athletic, or cerebral from touching the field on defense and allowed a symbolic 59 points to the Chicago Bears in the season opener. It was the most points allowed in franchise history and, combined with the Panthers own 37 points, the highest scoring Week 1 game in NFL history.

If we told you even two days ago that Bryce Young was going to throw for 361 yards and account for four touchdowns then you would have been pretty optimistic about the Panthers chances in their season opener. Unfortunately, baffling penalties, inopportune turnovers, and an embarrassing defensive effort turned a shoot out into a firing squad.

The defense

It's tough sledding when you open your season against what is expected to be one of the best offenses in the NFL and you're starting your third string outside linebacker. You'll be expected to struggle rushing the passer, containing scrambles, and holding the edge in the rushing game. It's also tough when you have multiple starters and contributors on defense who were not with the team in training camp.

Tough is one thing. Giving up four touchdowns, out of a total eight surrendered, on plays of twenty yards or more is another flavor of avalanche entirely. Caleb Williams averaged 6.6 yards per attempt and was the Bears least efficient rusher with more than one carry. D'Andre Swift (6.9 yards per attempt) and Kyle Monangai (10.0 yards per attempt) combined with Williams for 289 yards rushing and six touchdowns on the ground.

If Ejiro Evero's seat wasn't hot coming into the season then it certainly is now. That said, there were flashes of pressure and good linebacker play. We know the secondary has the talent to compete. They did manage to hold expected super star tight end Colston Loveland to a whole two targets and zero catches in the game. Give these guys the Panthers' traditional four to five weeks to pull themselves together and they could be a good unit down the stretch. Could be. I hope.

Jimmy Horn, Jr

That wasn't it, Jimmy. One more week of this, at most, and the Panthers should be looking for new blood in the return game.

The offense

Atlanta Bryce made a rare appearance in Charlotte yesterday, blasting a mile ahead of his career average game and captaining the offense to a largely respectable showing in Brad Idzik's debut as play caller. There are some kinks to work out and zero guarantee that they'll look like this again before December, but you could hardly have asked for a better realistic start on offense.

Jalen Coker was everything we had hoped for when Tetairoa McMillan was blanketed. McMillan still managed to find success in the second half despite an abundance of attention from the Bears secondary. And that was all with more production from the tight end position than it feels like we have ever seen in Dave Canales' tenure. It's funny how many yards and targets there are to go around in a 37 attempt, 361 yard day. The volume is probably exaggerated, but if that's the gist of what we can expect in the air with Idzik calling plays then color me excited.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a balanced effort. The ground game struggled heavily. As with the defense, multiple injuries along the line depressed expectations for the rushing attack, but what we saw was still disappointing. A limited ability to gain even three yards when the chips were down hampered this offense and kept them from keeping up with the Bears. The only bright side, and I'm scared to even publish this lest it changes today, is that Jonathon Brooks escaped the game without further injury.

Same as with the defense, the seeds shined through in the season opener. There is still a lot of work for them to do to prove that they can be a consistent threat to opposing teams with their offense. Well, not the same as with the defense. Maybe there is less work to do on this side of the ball.

@ Atlanta

There's not much more I can say about 59 points. That's bad. We're not going to change schemes or onboard 11 new starters. We also, as a fan base, as promised, are not going to overreact to Week 1.

Now, to overreact to Week 1, scoring 37 points a game-the Carolina Panthers current 2026 regular season average-would have seen them as a 15-2 team with at least one playoff win in 2025. That's statistics. On the one hand, I'd expect both sides of the ball to come back to Earth over the course of September before landing on an actual identity through October. That story arc will be true for most teams in the NFL. On the other hand, the sky's the limit if this is the team's cold start to the 2026 season.

Next week will be an interesting test against Bijan Robinson and whatever dime store quarterback the Falcons think looks healthy. Even if the defense manages to pitch a shutout, we still might not know a lot about them entering Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns.

Losing a season opener is nothing new. Losing one while showing promise, sadly, is. I'll take it for now.