Johnson doubles down on Bears offense after 59-point Week 1 eruption

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Ben Johnson didn't just set a lofty goal for his Chicago Bears offense this offseason. He set a historic one, saying he believes it can be the highest-scoring unit in NFL history. On Sunday, the Bears got off to a good start in fulfilling those expectations. The Bears walked away from their opener with a historic 59-37 win over the Carolina Panthers, one that saw them score the fourth-most points in a game in franchise history (Chicago began its 107th season Sunday) and saw the teams combine for 96 points, most ever in a season opener. Following the win, Johnson doubled down on his aspirations for the offense. "That will always be the goal," he said. "We want to be the highest scoring, we want to have the most wins, we want to win Super Bowls. That's what we do. We didn't get into this profession trying to be mediocre or average." The Bears started off the year with 552 yards of offense, their third-most in a game in the Super Bowl era (since 1966), while five different players score touchdowns. But they also were left believing Sunday's result could have been even more lopsided had it not been for a sluggish start that saw them fumble on their opening drive and get flagged four times in the first five minutes. "It's amazing," running back D'Andre Swift said. "To be able to come out of a game like that and have so much to clean up, it's all right. We'll take the win. Fifty-nine points is amazing. It should have been worse." After spending big in the offseason to shore up their defense with edge rusher Jaelan Phillips (4 years, $120 million) and linebacker Devin Lloyd (3 years, $42 million), the Panthers were left with plenty of questions on that side of the ball after the opener. Coach Dave Canales said he needed to look at the film to "find solutions for what's going on," with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero at the center of the struggle. "We'll see," Canales said. "I got to look at the film and just make sure I see who is responsible for what and the adjustments. Not even just adjustments, but just execution. I don't want to make any declarations about anything until I get to actually watch the film so we can all come together and find solutions for what's going on." Carolina's run defense was gashed throughout the opener, allowing 291 yards and six touchdowns on 39 carries. Swift had a game-high 124 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries; Kyle Monangai rushed for 100 yards and a score. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams had his first career game with multiple rushing touchdowns and completed 21 of 29 pass attempts for 269 yards and two TDs. As the Bears continued to pile on points, Phillips found himself looking up at the scoreboard in disbelief. "Many times -- yeah, especially towards the end," he 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, I do think that it's a good opportunity for us. It's a critical moment in the sense that getting beat this badly as a defense is really going to define us moving forward in terms of like the urgency that we have to make these corrections and to get better." When Johnson initially said he wanted the Bears to break the single-season scoring record the 2013 Broncos set at 37.9 points per game, he said he wanted his team to achieve it feat via shutouts and blowouts. That didn't come close to happening Sunday; the Bears allowed 478 yards to a Panthers team that mustered the sixth-fewest points in the NFL last season. Quarterback Bryce Young threw for 361 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. "I think for us, we're not going to -- at least on defense -- expect them to score 60 points a game," cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. "We gotta figure out ways to do our part. So I think it's good to have that, to bail you out, but as a unit, I would say that's not something we can rely on." Throughout training camp, Chicago emphasized the need to start faster in games after it pulled off seven fourth-quarter comebacks in 2025. The Bears averaged 5.5 points in second quarters last season (26th) and focused heavily this offseason on end-of-half execution. That paid off when Williams scrambled for a 29-yard touchdown and rookie Malik Muhammad, who started at nickel, picked off Young before halftime. That sequence was "huge" for the Bears in the eyes of Ben Johnson, who walked away pleased with his team's execution but with plenty of items to address, like its 12 penalties. But for now, Sunday's result outweighs the mistakes and shortcomings of the defense. The Bears' first win came by way of dominating a shootout while showcasing their strengths on offense. "Going into this game, we knew that it's our first game of the season," Williams said. "We knew that it's not going to be as pretty as it will be later in the year. So, the whole thing was to be able to stay steady and understand that when bad things do happen, we've got each other's back -- from defense, special teams -- and I think they had our back pretty well today. We got three turnovers on defense. We had a fumble and muffed punt. And so, that's having our back, when we start the way we do. "We obviously have to be better. We've got to protect the football. We can't have the penalties that we had. We're going to go back, and like I said, look at those, be truthers about ourselves and what we can be better at and find a way to try to go 1-0 this next week." ESPN's Mike Kaye contributed to this report.