Williams, Bears Crush Panthers 59-37

Caleb Williams threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 65 yards and two more scores as the Chicago Bears beat the Carolina Panthers 59-37 in Charlotte on Sunday in the highest-scoring season opener in NFL history. The two teams piled up 96 points, eight more than the previous record of 88 from Tampa Bay's 48-40 win over New Orleans in 2018.

That is a statement Week 1 for Ben Johnson's Bears. Chicago also broke its franchise record for points in an opener, a mark that had stood since 1948, when the Bears hung 45 on Green Bay at Wrigley Field. The 59 points were the most allowed in Panthers history. Fantasy managers who drafted Williams as a dual-threat QB1 just got the ceiling half they were waiting for.

Williams everywhere, Swift and Monangai join the party

Williams looked like an MVP candidate early, stacking 196 passing yards in the first half, including a 22-yard touchdown to Cole Kmet, plus 52 rushing yards and two scores before the break. Chicago led 31-24 at halftime. D'Andre Swift, coming off a $33.75 million extension earlier this week, ran for 124 yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns. Kyle Monangai added 100 rushing yards, including a 61-yard touchdown burst that helped blow the game open in the second half.

NBC Sports noted Chicago's ground game finished with 39 carries for 291 yards and six rushing touchdowns. Williams still found Jahdea Walker for a late scoring strike after a Tetairoa McMillan fumble. The Bears kept answering every Carolina punch.

Young and Coker kept Carolina close, then the dam broke

Bryce Young threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a score. Jalen Coker caught eight passes for a career-high 138 yards and two touchdowns. Carolina tied it at 31 after Chuba Hubbard's second score, but mistakes and Chicago's next-play answers ended the rally. A late hit on Williams kept one drive alive for Swift's 1-yard punch. A failed Panthers fourth down near midfield turned into Monangai's 61-yarder. Then came the Walker touchdown for a 52-31 lead with 6:27 left.

Next week Chicago hosts Minnesota. Carolina goes to Atlanta. For now the opener belongs to Williams and a Bears offense that just rewrote the Week 1 scoring board in Charlotte.

Two hundred sixty-nine through the air. Sixty-five on the ground. Four touchdowns from the quarterback. Fifty-nine on the board. That is the Caleb Williams opener.