Panthers Post Game | September 13, 2026

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Now to Jim Zoki with the Panthers postgame show. Presented by Marco's Pizza on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: Along with Eugene Robinson, Mike Pacheco, Jim Zoki with you here as we break it down. A score that nobody expected, I'm sure.
00:00:20
Speaker 3: 59-37, 59-37.
00:00:20
Speaker 2: Bears win it over the Panthers. And because he was already here in place, we're going to open up with our Panther legend. Mike Tolbert is here. Thank you, Mike, for coming and joining us tonight. Appreciate you having me, Jim.
00:00:35
Speaker 3: It's been a long time since I've been on a mic with you, man.
00:00:37
Speaker 2: I know.
00:00:38
Speaker 4: It's fun.
00:00:38
Speaker 2: We need more of you. We need more of Tolbert. This game, it's like, you know, it's an offensive dream.
00:00:46
Speaker 1: Right.
00:00:46
Speaker 2: Not much defense there, but not in a positive way there. As this game unfolded, what were your thoughts as you're watching the score climb and climb?
00:00:53
Speaker 3: Well, the first thing I thought is whoever took the over is going to have a great night.
00:00:56
Speaker 2: You know, that's right.
00:00:57
Speaker 3: Whoever took the over. But, you know, defense, you know, no defense on either side of the ball. You know what I'm saying? I think that both of these teams are really good football teams. And you see that just by the amount of points that was put up. But defense definitely has to be a focus for both teams.
00:01:13
Speaker 5: Look at some of the positives here. Jalen Coker, we know he had that kind of explosiveness, but it really showed that on display today.
00:01:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jalen is a one-of-a-kind player. He's very physical for a receiver, but he's also fast. He also does the little things right. He does make sure he gets to the right proper depth. And it's proof that Bryce really trusts him.
00:01:36
Speaker 6: Yes, he does.
00:01:37
Speaker 3: Bryce trusts him. And Bryce looked amazing today as well.
00:01:40
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:01:41
Speaker 3: You know what I mean? So, I mean, I think on the offensive side of the ball, there's a number of people that you have to look at and say, that guy played really well today, especially for week one.
00:01:49
Speaker 6: You know, with the advent of getting back Hunt and Lewis, how does that really help solidify the offensive line to get those blocks that you need to do for Chuba or Jonathan Brooks?
00:01:59
Speaker 3: Well, I think that's, if I were to, before the game, you know, we go back in time and give my keys to the game, that would be the top of the list. You know, protect Bryce. You know, having those two guys back anchoring that offensive line is ultimately what you need to have him have a day like he had today.
00:02:16
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:02:16
Speaker 3: You know, and another guy, Jonathan Brooks, looked really good today. You know what I'm saying? I really like some of the things he did.
00:02:23
Speaker 5: A lot of times you see maybe the defense, you know, maybe is a little bit more organized to get things started. But really the offensive line, which kind of was a piecework a little bit. I mean, we could have those guys coming back, but they hadn't really worked together much at all.
00:02:36
Speaker 7: Right.
00:02:37
Speaker 5: When you look at kind of the overall structure of how the offense played today, what would you say?
00:02:41
Speaker 3: Well, I think it was a solid day. I think when you go back and look at this film, there's places that we can improve offensively. But you also look at the scoreboard, and we scored 37 points.
00:02:50
Speaker 6: As a team.
00:02:52
Speaker 3: I think as an offensive player and as a football player in general, if my offense puts up 37 points, We should win a game. We should win a game. You know what I mean? Especially not having a huge number of turnovers. That should win a game.
00:03:09
Speaker 2: We had a quarterback, Cam Newton, that could run. Caleb Williams, 10 carries, 65 yards. Had that 29-yard touchdown run in addition. He ran for just under 300 yards. Threw for just under 300 yards in this game. What are your impressions of him leading that Bears offense the way he was?
00:03:23
Speaker 3: I mean, he's one of these special quarterbacks in this league. You know, I think... Similar to Bryce, where you're kind of waiting to see if he's going to elevate to that level. Just watching him today in person is different than it was on TV in the past. He's a really good player. And he thrives on being outside the pocket, being creative, making plays with his feet. And obviously today we didn't hold him in check from that.
00:03:46
Speaker 2: You know, and that's where you.
00:03:47
Speaker 6: Can mitigate things because if a quarterback is that explosive, as he really is that explosive, you can stay on the outside, contain him, and just kind of push the pocket. But you don't have that breach where you get inside and he's able to get outside because when he does that, then it spells trouble for the entire second, entire defense. And we saw that a lot today. You know, I want to talk about this like— When people are getting up the field to rush, it is important to keep a quarterback like that or a quarterback like Bryce in the pocket.
00:04:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, you definitely got to contain. I mean, when I was downstairs on the field with some of the guys, all I kept hearing was Thomas Davis say.
00:04:26
Speaker 2: Contain him.
00:04:27
Speaker 3: You got to contain him. You know what I'm saying? And that's the main thing is, like, containing the athleticism of the opposing quarterback. You know, I remember when playing against different teams, it was like, we just got to figure out how to stop Cam. You know what I'm saying?
00:04:39
Speaker 7: Right.
00:04:40
Speaker 2: Good luck.
00:04:40
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying? It's not as easy as we up here make it seem to contain. But, I mean, you got to figure out a way.
00:04:48
Speaker 5: And when you have a quarterback like that, it's like having an extra offensive player.
00:04:52
Speaker 2: Oh, my goodness. Oh, 100%.
00:04:54
Speaker 3: 100%. I mean, having somebody that can make plays with their feet and in the air and just extend plays, because that's a long time the defensive backs have to cover. Eugene, you know, when you get three, four seconds, you know, it gets tiring. And then they're going to play and play and play. Before you know it, a play is going to be made. You know what I mean?
00:05:13
Speaker 2: Well, Mike, you said 37 points is going to win a lot of games if they can replicate that offensively moving forward. As this team gets back in practice this week, gets ready for a road game at Atlanta, division game right away already. If you were in that locker room and coaching these guys up, what are some of the words you would say to them about putting this one behind you, but learning from it and moving into the Atlanta game?
00:05:34
Speaker 3: Well, I think you dwell on the strengths of this game. We were very powerful in the run game. I think the offensive line played tremendous today. I think Bryce played really well today. And the tight ends position, they blocked well, they caught well, they did the things necessary to give us 37 points. So I think offensively you dwell on that. You dig in on the things that you do really well And you continue to harp on those. Defensively, we got to go back and we got to understand that, hey, that was a good football team we played. But at the same time, we got to make adjustments. We got to make sure that we're ready to go out next week when we get ready to play this next team.
00:06:12
Speaker 6: You know, there was a lot of times when we saw guys coming from the outside and then getting an inside rush ever so slightly because it looks appealing because you see Caleb Williams, he's inside, so you say, okay, I can make that play. But you forget how special he is that when you get inside, now he's outside, and now you just made everybody chase the play. And that happened just too often. And so to your point, and I would just echo this, defensively, we got to go back to drawboard. Contain, contain, contain, contain. contain, and when you don't have to contain anymore, make sure you contain it.
00:06:45
Speaker 2: Indeed. It's such a simple game when you really fall in love. Hey, Mike, before we let you go, how's the family? How are the businesses doing? Everything good?
00:06:53
Speaker 3: Everything's doing good, man. Family's doing good. My son's over there. He's done growing up. He's about as tall as me now, which is... crazy to say because I wasn't his height until I was 30. You know what I mean? But my baby girl's over there too. My nephew's here with me. Family's doing well, man. Business is doing good. Didn't you just start a gym? Yeah, I got a boxing gym down in the Ballantyne area.
00:07:18
Speaker 6: What's the name of it?
00:07:18
Speaker 2: Rockbox Fitness. Rockbox Waverly. Rockbox Fitness. Yes, sir.
00:07:23
Speaker 6: Check it out.
00:07:23
Speaker 2: Support Mike Tolbert. Support the family. Good seeing you, man.
00:07:26
Speaker 3: No doubt.
00:07:27
Speaker 2: Appreciate it, Mike Tolbert. One of our favorite Panthers.
00:07:29
Speaker 8: Thank you, bro.
00:07:30
Speaker 2: Appreciate you, dog. All right, we will take a break. We've got a lot coming up here. We're going to break down the game, obviously, some more. Listen back to highlights. We'll hear from Coach Canales and some of the players. And Mike's got a scoreboard update coming for you as well on this opening Sunday of the NFL regular season. Postgame show is brought to you by Marco's Pizza. More coming up next on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.
00:08:02
Speaker 9: Hey, welcome you back to Bank of America Stadium.
00:08:04
Speaker 5: This is the fifth quarter here on the Panthers postgame show presented by Marco's Pizza. Carolina losing this one to Chicago 59-37. This drive around the league brought to you by the Honda dealers of the Carolinas.
00:08:17
Speaker 9: Up next, it'll be Atlanta. They lost on.
00:08:19
Speaker 5: The road at Pittsburgh 13-3.
00:08:21
Speaker 9: Excuse me, that was the halftime score. 20-13 the final there. Aaron Rodgers, 40 passes attempted.
00:08:26
Speaker 2: He was 24 of 40. 221 yards, touchdown.
00:08:31
Speaker 5: No interceptions. The Lions at home beat New Orleans in overtime. That game just finished up a couple minutes ago.
00:08:38
Speaker 2: 31-30.
00:08:39
Speaker 9: Jared Goff had two touchdowns in that game. Cincinnati 33-27 over Tampa Bay. Joe Burrow, 35 pass attempts.
00:08:48
Speaker 5: 25 completions, 254 yards, had a touchdown and an interception. Baker Mayfield just signed that big extension. With the Buccaneers, he was 23 of 28. 216 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions. Buffalo beats Houston 41 to 23. Josh Allen was 20 of 29, 334 yards.
00:09:10
Speaker 9: Two touchdowns, and no interceptions. How about Cleveland?
00:09:13
Speaker 5: They had a tough day on the road at Jacksonville.
00:09:16
Speaker 2: Oh, shocking.
00:09:18
Speaker 9: 24-0 the score at the half in that game. Deshaun Watson.
00:09:22
Speaker 5: Had an interception in his first series. They go on to lose that game to Jacksonville, 34-10. The Jets pick up a win over Tennessee, 23-10. And Baltimore knocks off Indianapolis, 41-23.
00:09:37
Speaker 9: And Derrick Henry had 144 yards on the ground with three touchdowns.
00:09:44
Speaker 6: So what I heard you saying is that we all lost in our division, right? That's what I heard you say.
00:09:51
Speaker 2: That's what I heard.
00:09:52
Speaker 6: I heard the Saints lost.
00:09:53
Speaker 2: That's what I said. That's what you heard. So the NFC South starts where it left off last year. Nobody has a winning record right now.
00:09:59
Speaker 3: All right.
00:10:00
Speaker 6: So I feel even better about this.
00:10:02
Speaker 2: Panthers are tied for first.
00:10:04
Speaker 6: I feel better now.
00:10:04
Speaker 5: So games right now, Green Bay over Minnesota, 9-0. That's with 7.43 to go first quarter. Las Vegas over Miami, 7-0 at home. Arizona and the LA Chargers. all even at seven games apiece. And Washington and Philadelphia, that's a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter for the Commanders.
00:10:23
Speaker 2: I just, Eugene, as far as the Panther game today, and again, the final was 59-37. In my wildest dreams. I mean, that sounds like something from the Mountain West Football Conference in college football. It doesn't sound like a real NFL score.
00:10:38
Speaker 6: That's like, what?
00:10:39
Speaker 2: That's like 96 points, is it not?
00:10:41
Speaker 1: No.
00:10:41
Speaker 2: I can't even do the math.
00:10:43
Speaker 6: I believe that's like 96.
00:10:44
Speaker 2: I need a minute. But here it is, right?
00:10:46
Speaker 6: So we've been talking about the edge and how important it is for contain. Your quarterback is not, he shouldn't be able to scramble for two touchdowns. Typically, you don't think about that. You think of the quarterback throwing a rock, they're getting into the receivers, whether that's Kemet, whether it's Ondonze. You're thinking about the running back scoring. You don't think about the quarterback having a day where he scores two touchdowns because that's not in your plan. You think about containing them.
00:11:09
Speaker 2: And so.
00:11:10
Speaker 6: What I mean by contained is you're always forcing him back inside to where all the trouble's at. You always stay on his outside. If I'm coming, if I'm rushing from the right-hand side, I'm keeping my right-hand shoulder on his left-hand shoulder, and I'm making sure he does not get out, his right, and he.
00:11:28
Speaker 2: Makes sure that he does not get outside of me at all.
00:11:30
Speaker 6: And we didn't do that Not one iota. And then we did some stunts in there, too. So there were some things that we did stunts that forced us tackles to run with them on the outside. And then we did some things where our edge rushers got inside and now they have to go chase them outside. And we always say this, whenever you lose contain.
00:11:51
Speaker 6: You make 10 people chase the play. That's what you do. You make 10 people chase the play. But when you keep it contained, you force it back into 10 people who are rushing really hard inside. And that's very difficult for anybody, a running back, quarterback, receiver, to go ahead and take that onslaught. So here's the biggest lesson I heard today. and that is going to be drilled in their heads this all week before they play the Falcons is stay outside. Force it back to your help. Do not try to be a hero. Stay outside.
00:12:21
Speaker 9: And I think the other message, Jim, is limit your mistakes.
00:12:24
Speaker 5: I mean, this was a game where, you know, an inopportune fumble early on in the punt game. And we saw a couple of penalties from Derek Brown that could have helped to end drives but then later extended drives.
00:12:36
Speaker 3: For the Bears.
00:12:37
Speaker 6: Yeah, I tell you what, that DPI, that passing, that DPI against the quarterback, when he hit the quarterback, it was going to be a third down and 20 play that we were looking at, and we had to get first.
00:12:48
Speaker 2: Down, and they put more points on the board.
00:12:51
Speaker 6: I thought that was one of the most telling plays of how this defense was struggling. Because you can tell, I'm not faulting Derrick Brown for getting to the quarterback or trying to get to the quarterback, because he's doing everything he can.
00:13:03
Speaker 10: But then.
00:13:04
Speaker 6: After he throws the ball, you hit him after the play, but that's a no-no. So here it is. Not only you got the contain, but now you got some defensive penalties that really, really were costly. So costly that they will put points back on the board that you can't afford in a game like this when.
00:13:20
Speaker 2: It's a shootout. Coach Ben Johnson said they want to be the highest scoring team in NFL history. 59 in the opening day is quite the statement. Oh, that is a statement.
00:13:28
Speaker 6: But what was also the statement that the Bears made early? It was first quarter, they were backed up in their own, you know, within their own 20-yard line, and it was a fourth down and one. Instead of putting the ball out, they ran the ball, a quarterback sneak. We tackled it.
00:13:45
Speaker 2: We stopped them. And we put points on the board.
00:13:47
Speaker 6: And I just thought that was like one of those things that says, look, I'm I believe so much in our offense that we can go ahead, even though we're backed up, that we're better than you. And fortunately, we stopped them. And we scored a touchdown off that change. Yeah, but that just sent a notice that Coach Bennett, he ain't playing around. He's like, look, I'm throwing out all the stops. And I believe in my team. And, you know, the way they play, I see why.
00:14:15
Speaker 2: Rough one today for the Panthers. Offense was great, 37 points, but 59 for the Bears, 59-37 the final. We'll hear from Coach Canales. We'll hear from some of these Panther players. We'll listen back to some of the highlights. A lot more to come as we continue here. Come join us also for the fifth quarter show here in the North Lounge. Much more to do as we continue, and you're listening to Panthers football.
00:14:33
Speaker 1: This is the Panthers postgame show. Presented by Marco's Pizza.
00:14:38
Speaker 2: Zone read. Gibbs straight up the middle. Touchdown. Touchdown, Carolina.
00:14:43
Speaker 1: Reaction and analysis to today's game with special guests, highlights, and updates from around the league.
00:14:49
Speaker 2: Complete. Touchdown right side. Makes the catch. Touchdown, Panthers.
00:14:55
Speaker 7: Now what?
00:14:55
Speaker 2: How about it?
00:14:56
Speaker 3: Now what?
00:14:57
Speaker 1: Now to Jim Zoki with the Panthers postgame show exclusively on the Carolina Panthers radio network.
00:15:06
Speaker 2: Bears 59, Panthers 37, the final score. And we are back here and welcome in on the North Lounge and the fifth quarter show. And welcome to come join us. Good mix of Panthers and Bears fans here. See some horns. Go Bears. Bears win the game. More Bears. Have some Sassages. The Sassages. Is Abe Froben here? He is. And so I was having a good time. Both teams got to see their fans, see their team score a lot of points. We've got a lot more to cover. We're going to listen back to some of the highlights coming up here in a few minutes. Before we move on, though, let's pause 10 seconds for station identification on the Carolina Panthers radio network. All right, so welcome back, and we're going to listen to some of the highlights coming up. We'll do it in the next segment once we have a chance to kind of pull those all together. But as we look back at this game, Eugene, obviously– Let's pull some positives. Jalen Coker today. What an effort by him out there and what he was able to accomplish from Bryce Young and his throwing out there. But eight catches, 138 yards, two touchdowns. Part of Bryce throwing for 361, three touchdowns with the one interception. Not a big day for TMAC. Maybe they were taking him away, do you think, defensively in this game? Because Coker certainly had a big day.
00:16:22
Speaker 6: I think it is. I would say the same thing. Coker had a big day because I think that TMAC was getting, you know, doubled in the fact that they were concentrating on him. And it's also what's kind of surprising. You don't realize how big Jalen Coker is. He's a really big receiver, but he also is a really fast receiver. And the fact that Coach Izzik, I love that fact that he is throwing the ball down the field, deep down the field. Last year, the ball went east-west, laterally. This time, it's going down the field. You know, it's evidenced by the number of, you know, points that we put on the ball, 37 points. But the ball is traveling down the field where you're now making the secondary, you're making them honest. You're making them defend absolutely everything. And so I like what's happening. And the fact that Jalen Coker is a huge target, I think that people... They're not going to take too much or respect him as much because he's so big, you don't think he's that fast. And so people are going to underestimate him, and I could see him having a huge, huge year.
00:17:24
Speaker 2: No doubt about that.
00:17:25
Speaker 6: I thought Bryce played extremely well, but I thought that Bryce to Jalen Coker connection was absolutely outstanding.
00:17:30
Speaker 5: And that could open up the run game because if Coker or McMillan If one of those is able to kind of win their one-on-one matchup when the other guys double-team, then that could free up some space for the running game, but Cokerhead, eight catches on nine targets. So you've got to love that percentage.
00:17:48
Speaker 6: What I love about what Jalen Coker does is he's catching the ball with his hands. You think that's obviously, yeah, you catch it with your hands. But most people don't catch the ball with their hands. They body catch it. That's much more comfortable to go ahead and use your body to kind of catch the ball. He catches the ball in his hands, and then he has that awareness where he's out on the field to make sure he gets his feet in to go ahead, whether it was a touchdown or whether it was to go ahead and make sure it's a legal reception. So I like the receivers that we have, and I think they will only get better. I was maybe just a little bit disappointed in Jimmy Horn. I thought that, man, I've been such a big fan of Jimmy Horn and waiting for him to have this little breakout season, and today it was very, very tough for him. It was a muff punt, and it just wasn't his day, and now you're trying to make it your day, and it's not your day.
00:18:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, he didn't fumble, but initially the It looked like the ground caused it.
00:18:41
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:18:42
Speaker 2: But again, the ball came out again. And again, so there's only one turnover. But it just that uncertainty like. Yes. You want. And what he dropped it was on a fair catch. It wasn't like on a return.
00:18:52
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:18:53
Speaker 2: And it's not a super. It's not really windy out today. It is a little bit more breeze now. But earlier in the day. Not so much so. So that was disappointing. But Mike, I also thought to finally get to see Jonathan Brooks for the first time in a long time. Only four carries, 14 yards. We had that nice long reception as well. Finishes with that one catch for 48 yards. Got a little taste of what he's going.
00:19:12
Speaker 6: To bring to the offense.
00:19:13
Speaker 5: Well, I like glad you brought that up because what I was going to kind of talk.
00:19:16
Speaker 9: About after that was Bryce Young and how well he's been throwing.
00:19:19
Speaker 2: But it leads to that.
00:19:20
Speaker 5: He kind of threw Brooks open, but because Brooks was able to kind of get a little separation, I mean, that was exactly what you want to see in that situation. But he's the type of guy that, you know, he does different things than what Chuba Hubbard and A.J.
00:19:33
Speaker 9: Dillon can do.
00:19:35
Speaker 5: And he has a different type of athleticism and maybe a different type of speed and maybe a little bit more multifaceted where, yeah, he can get out in space and use his speed, but he can also catch the ball as well.
00:19:47
Speaker 6: And you also saw Chuba's leadership.
00:19:51
Speaker 2: It kind of was on display.
00:19:52
Speaker 6: The way he ran the ball, the way he showed up in the passing game, you were like, oh, okay, this dude is that guy. I know he's a captain. He's a captain for a reason because he really did show up. I mean, he's been... you know, nursing injuries, and now he's back, and he looked really, really good. So I thought, as Tobridge talked about, offensively, I thought, man, look, we balled out. We put a lot of points on the board. Unfortunately, they put a lot of points on the board, too. And something we hadn't talked about, they had 291 yards rushing. That's too much. That's sick.
00:20:26
Speaker 9: By about 200 yards.
00:20:27
Speaker 6: That is too many yards. And so we saw some plays where it was right up the gut with the Bears to smack you in the mouth legally. Boom, right up the gut. You can't stop it. And I thought that that's something that we would be able to do with Devin Lloyd or Kerry K, both Browns in there, Hunter. I thought that, okay, we should be able to shore up the run. I thought that we missed some tackles out there. I thought the Bears... ran well that they made you miss some tackles. So that's another part of the game beyond the edge control that has to get cleaned up. It has to get cleaned up.
00:21:02
Speaker 5: And it looks like, too, that maybe this was part of the game plan, but the middle just seemed to be open all day long for the Bears.
00:21:08
Speaker 6: There's no game plan that we have the middle open. Every gap is always taken.
00:21:14
Speaker 5: No, but you can see how was the lineup, though, where they were lined up.
00:21:16
Speaker 2: Exactly.
00:21:17
Speaker 6: So when we look at that 4-2 look that you see, or sometimes we had a seven-man look, typically all the gaps are taken, and what happens is you'll get a guy, oh, the running back's over there, and he sticks his head over it, and somebody has his gap, gets over there, and next thing you know, the running back's running through your gap. And so that's what we saw just a little bit that, man, you know what, just do your job. If the ball doesn't come to you and you did your job, that's great. It means that somebody else is supposed to be able to make that play. But when you go ahead and you peek and try to go ahead and help out, Dude, you are doing yourself a big disservice. And I bet you that's going to be the thing that the coaches talk about in the locker room. They'll go like this. Hey, man, if you got this gap, stay in this gap.
00:21:58
Speaker 9: You know, stay at home.
00:22:00
Speaker 2: Stay at home.
00:22:01
Speaker 6: And if you're getting double team, then guess what? Fall down and take both those dudes with you so they don't get on the linebacker. That's what you're supposed to kind of do, and that's what we did not do. Because when you're just running up through the gut like that, that means you've got to make the tackles from the safety position. And I'm telling you, that is a tough tackle to go ahead and make when a running back has a two-way goal. So, yes, the middle shouldn't be open, but the middle was open all day long.
00:22:27
Speaker 2: Bears averaged 7.5 yards per carry and they carried it 39 times. The two teams combined for over 1,000 yards of offense in this game today. That's insane. We had 478 total. They had 552 total. So it was just like, which reflects the scoreboard, 59-37. But it's just, again, it felt like Those are like crazy college numbers. Not a regular college game. You don't expect an NFL defense to be hit that hard.
00:22:55
Speaker 6: Here it is. I'm thinking, what is Coach Agero going to say and go like this?
00:23:00
Speaker 2: Okay, we got to go back to the drawing board.
00:23:02
Speaker 6: We got to go back.
00:23:03
Speaker 2: I would love to hear what.
00:23:04
Speaker 6: Coach Canales is going to say, because I mean, apparently and obviously this is only one game. OK, and sometimes, you know, it's hyperbolic, making it all more than what it is. You know, none of our teams won in the division anyway. So guess what? We're tied for first place.
00:23:20
Speaker 10: All right.
00:23:20
Speaker 2: So I realize that.
00:23:22
Speaker 6: However, if this is a harbinger of something to come, we've got to be able to go ahead and take care of that because the defense has to become much better on the run and much better in edge control. And if they're not better in edge control and not taking the run, it will be a long season.
00:23:38
Speaker 2: All right, we'll take a timeout here. Much more to come. We'll listen back to some of the highlights from the game when we come back next. We'll be hearing from Coach Dave Canales, some of the Panther players, get the final thoughts of Jake and Luke and Anish as we continue. from the North Lounge and our fifth quarter show. It's back again for another season here within Bank of America Stadium. More coming up next. Again, the final score, 59-37 Bears win over the Panthers on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network. Fifth quarter, and welcome back into the North Lounge, Jim, along with Mike and Eugene. And the Panthers fall 59-37 to the Chicago Bears. We'll play three highlights for you to kind of give you examples of what happened during the course of the game. Panthers got their first touchdown of the season. Bryce Young, by the way, had three touchdown passes today, the first one here. A short one, but Chuba Hubbard gets the Panthers on the board with a 7-0 lead.
00:24:34
Speaker 10: Young is in the gun. A trips look to the right. Chest high snap. Rice looking around. He steps up.
00:24:40
Speaker 2: He throws wide open.
00:24:42
Speaker 10: Touchdown Chuba Hubbard. Right side of the end zone. What a start for the Panthers in 2026.
00:24:50
Speaker 2: Of course, it'll be a back and forth first half. A lot of scoring of the 59-37 game in the first half. Panthers, one of their biggest plays of the game. It's Bryce Young again going to the air. Finds Jalen Coker for a 51-yard touchdown.
00:25:07
Speaker 10: From the 48, Young, play-action pass. Deep drop, top of the pocket, steps up, fires deep down the left side for Coker.
00:25:13
Speaker 2: Makes the catch and stride! Jalen Coker to the end zone! Down the left sideline! Touchdown, Carolina! We'll call that the Whataburger. What a moment of the game. Grilling delicious food for 75 years. Whataburger, just like you like it. And then providing some equal time in an example of the 291 yards rushing by Chicago. A 61-yard touchdown here by Kyle Monongay in the third quarter.
00:25:39
Speaker 10: Got 38, 50 seconds to go in the third. First down and 10. Monungai gets the call. Steamrolls up the middle. Breaks the tackle. He's off to the races. He's got the 30, the 20, the 10, 5.
00:25:51
Speaker 2: Touchdown, Kyle Monungai. And that was a lot of what we heard today, Mike, was the Bears almost running for 300 yards in this game overall. And a big reason why they won this game. Again, the quarterback is a big reason why they're able to get so many of those yards on the ground, too. Well, yeah.
00:26:09
Speaker 5: And you have to account for him. And then you also have all these other weapons. And, you know, Swift was a guy that had a couple of big runs. We just heard a couple of highlights from Menangai. You know, when you have those, you know, it's a little bit reminiscent of when I think the Panthers, they're a little bit to me like the Panthers in the. Cam Newton era, you know, you had, you know, Cam had so many different weapons and okay, maybe you could shut him down a little bit on the running game. And then all of a sudden, you know, Greg Olson was open or, you know, then you get down to field to, you know, Smitty or whoever. So, and then the running game, Mike Tolbert. Um, so when you have all those types of weapons, it is just, um, it's, it's hard to account for everything. And when you look at the combined points, uh, 59, uh, You remember the old Wendy's, where's the beef? Where's the defense? Where's the beef? And, you know, if you've been listening for us over the years, you know, there's a thing called Scorigami, which is a website that tracks unique scores in the NFL. In other words, scores that have never happened before. And this game qualifies as a Scorigami. This is the first time in NFL history. that a team has been decided by a 59-37 score.
00:27:22
Speaker 2: As Eugene said, 96 points on top of the unique score. Such a high-scoring game in the NFL. Be interesting to know where that ranks kind of in the modern era as far as a combined 96 points.
00:27:33
Speaker 6: Here it is, but here's the silver lining in all this. We put a lot of points on the board.
00:27:38
Speaker 7: 100%.
00:27:38
Speaker 6: Yep.
00:27:40
Speaker 2: The things that we're talking about, edge control, that could be fixed. That's fixable.
00:27:44
Speaker 6: That's not like it's just broken.
00:27:45
Speaker 9: This isn't personality.
00:27:47
Speaker 6: This is fixable. So, you know, if I'm taking away something from this game, I'm like, look, I can fix you being on the edge. I can do that. So that's not a hard thing. Some of the missed tackles, okay, we can fix that also. But all the stuff that we saw today– It's not broken so broken that it's not fixable. All that stuff is fixable. And the fact that we were still able to go ahead and match point for point. When it was 31-31, I'm like, oh.
00:28:13
Speaker 8: Okay, okay.
00:28:14
Speaker 6: And even when it was 38-31, I'm like, I still thought we had a chance before that fumble with McMillan, but we still had a chance. So all this is fixable. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. You know, nobody won in our division. And if I'm looking at it, I'm going, okay, there are some positives that I can take away from this.
00:28:33
Speaker 2: And a division game coming up next week against Atlanta. It's a chance to break the ship. And it's tough for two games. A one and a half game, if you will. It's funny you said that, how division games do, in fact, count for two games because you put a loss on them. If you win, you get the win. But I wanted to make the point that, again... like we're talking to Pop Warner kids, one loss is one loss. Whether you give up 59 or whatever, it doesn't change if you've lost 13 to 10. So learn from it, take the positives that you just mentioned, and this could be a really exciting season.
00:29:02
Speaker 6: And I will tell you this, too. When they're watching the film, too, and I want to talk about the Will Lee. There was some places for a new quarterback, rookie quarterback, where there was a breakdown and what guys got behind him. Well, make sure you learn from that. I know that Smith Wade came in and, you know, They're trying to find that combination that's not, but just learn from it. Just learn from the mistakes. And Jimmy Horn, I still believe in Jimmy Horn. I mean, I think he's an exciting player. I think that he has a lot of cachet. He brings a lot of elements to it. So, hey, Jimmy, you know what? It's a hard thing. The hardest thing to do is to catch a punt. A punt is one of the hardest footballs to get and catch. So, hey, practice that, practice that, but look, your speed is undeniable, and your decision-making is undeniable, so don't lose confidence. Go ahead, pick your head up, and just come back next week.
00:29:54
Speaker 5: One thing you hear a lot, and I don't know that we've talked about this through the years, but You know, one of the axioms, if you will, is that teams make their best improvements between the first and second games.
00:30:03
Speaker 9: How much do you subscribe to that, or is that just maybe like a myth.
00:30:07
Speaker 2: Or a legend? Is that something that makes teams that lose their first game feel better?
00:30:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, it does.
00:30:13
Speaker 2: You know what?
00:30:13
Speaker 6: Here it is. We have a 24-hour rule in the National Football League. Hey, you get to look at this game. You get to go ahead and celebrate it. You get to go ahead and mourn it, grieve it, whatever it is. But come Tuesday, you need to forget about this.
00:30:26
Speaker 2: It's done. It's on to the next game.
00:30:29
Speaker 6: And so that's going to be the mantra, and that's going to be what the coach is going to be preaching. Hey, we're on to the next game because one game is not going to define you at all. And so from this standpoint, yeah, we got beat. We got blown out.
00:30:44
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah. All right, we're about to play the Falcons next week. Let's go ahead and buckle down, and.
00:30:49
Speaker 6: Let's go ahead and win one on the road.
00:30:50
Speaker 2: All right, we'll take a break. When we come back, we'll hear from Coach Dave Canales. What did he have to say? After this loss, 59-37, the Bears over the Carolina Panthers.
00:30:59
Speaker 1: We'll get back to the Panthers postgame show presented by Marco's Pizza. Ready for your game day dinner? Visit your local Marco's Pizza or order online today.
00:31:13
Speaker 2: Oh, 59-37, the Bears win over the Panthers. Welcome back to the fifth quarter show. Appreciate y'all being here and hanging out with us here at the North Club Lounge. And at Belk, you can score. game day gear from your favorite teams. Shop brands like Adidas, Nike, Under Armour. Bring home the win with big deals and exclusive coupons. Belk, a proud partner of the Carolina Panthers, your hometown favorite in the fashion game since 1888. Jim and Mike and Eugene here. Let's send it back to the guys now in their interview with the head coach, Dave Canales.
00:31:42
Speaker 10: Maneesh Shroff, Jake DeLong, Lou Kuechly joined by Panthers head coach Dave Canales. Dave, it seemed there were two different stories with offense and defense today. Let's... Just kind of start with the taste in your mouth after this game overall, though.
00:31:55
Speaker 11: 17 points off of turnovers, some really untimely penalties, things that we really pride ourselves on minimizing, those types of decisions and situations that extended some plays for a really good offense. You can't give these guys anything. I've got to give a lot of credit to the Bears. We know they're a really potent offense, and Caleb Williams driving that in the run game and Ben Johnson, I thought they did a fantastic job with that. We can't pass out any freebies, and that's what we did. Offensively speaking, there were some good things. I wish I could sit here and tell you about the positives and all the phases, but the bottom line is if a team is rolling, we've got to be able to go punch for punch and battle that way. You can't make mistakes, and we made the mistakes today. Inevitably, it cost us in a big way.
00:32:45
Speaker 8: Coach, this is Jake here. Just speaking offensively, Bryce looked like he was in complete control. Really enjoyed the way Brad called the game.
00:32:52
Speaker 2: We were aggressive.
00:32:53
Speaker 8: We took down the field shots. Just your overall thoughts on the offense. I was really proud of Brad.
00:32:58
Speaker 11: The way that he was mixing the actions in there, trying to get the run game going, that wasn't good enough for our liking, but we ended up finding some run game as the game kept going on. You know, the third downs, we got to be better on third down and whether that's just winning the one-on-one matchups or concepts or execution. We'll look at all that. So I was excited about that, Jake, and I wish I could sit here and talk about the positives that came out of it, but I just have this taste in my mouth that we just had a game that we were right there in, and what we needed to do was execute and just play our fundamentals, and I think that's what the guys are going to see on film.
00:33:35
Speaker 4: Coach Luke here, obviously we'll play better on defense moving forward, but just one thing that I thought was positive, I felt like we felt felt Devin Lloyd, not only as a, uh, as an off the ball backer, but as a rusher as well. And then also Jalen Phillips and, you know, he had the sack and he had some pressure, just kind of talk about the two new additions and just the value and the, the, the fit those guys for us.
00:33:56
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:33:56
Speaker 11: There were some fantastic plays out there by Devin and by Jalen and, uh, you know, some of the guys that we're counting on, um, you know, to, to really make this defense, what I believe in what I picture it can be. Um, and you know, I, again, like the guys are sick right now and, uh, They understand, and my message to them was just like, hey, guys, you're going to see where the basics matter and the alignment and the checks and the adjustments and how in tune we have to be in the run game and connected with stuff. But there were some fabulous plays out there, man. We just can't really dwell on any of those things because we have so much to look at and we have so much to fix.
00:34:32
Speaker 10: Dave, last thing, just from your standpoint, first game as a head coach where you get to sort of oversee everything, not have to worry about calling plays. How would you describe how that played out in a regular season setting?
00:34:46
Speaker 2: I was excited about it.
00:34:47
Speaker 11: I was able to work the sideline, talking to guys, making sure everybody's head was in the game, talking to the officials, getting clarification on different calls that came up just to ask them, consider this. Consider the fact that whatever might have happened. It really helped that part of it to get that communication to Brad Allen. So they were looking for stuff, and that led to a couple of calls that we got. And then also just being able to have that dialogue with the coordinators in between and see if there's any way, any little edge that I can help out with the guys. So that part of it felt really, really good, comfortable for me, and I enjoyed it. But at the same time, this was like trying to battle and keep the guys in it when we're handing out freebies with yardage and different things and putting that team in a position to score.
00:35:36
Speaker 10: Dave Canales, head coach of the Panthers.
00:35:37
Speaker 2: Thank you, Dave.
00:35:38
Speaker 6: All right, thanks, guys.
00:35:40
Speaker 2: All right, so Coach Canales laying out some of the things there. Eugene, what are your thoughts? He said handing out freebies.
00:35:44
Speaker 6: He's talking about defense.
00:35:46
Speaker 2: And we were just talking about that before with the run. right up the middle of the.
00:35:51
Speaker 6: Gut, right? 61-yard run for a touchdown. Those things typically don't happen, and you're able to go ahead and squash that and limit those things. We didn't do that, and that's what you mean by some of the freebies that we did, and also some of the penalties that were uncharacteristic. There were also freebies that gives that offense... That potent offense, another chance to go ahead and score. So there's some things that we have to go ahead and clean up, of course, and there's some things that.
00:36:16
Speaker 2: He absolutely likes. But as the head coach, I'm sitting.
00:36:19
Speaker 6: There thinking, you know, yeah, coach is about to go back to the drawing board and say, hey, we've got to fix these things.
00:36:24
Speaker 2: And they are fixable. I'll say it again.
00:36:27
Speaker 6: They are all fixable indeed.
00:36:29
Speaker 5: Yeah, and this was a game where you really couldn't, now that you're in the U.S., I mean, you had to keep the volley. You had to keep volleying, volley, serve, volley, serve, volley, serve, and And those mistakes led to the separation in the game.
00:36:42
Speaker 6: Yeah, and I'm a defensive player, so I see it from a defensive perspective. Every time, you know, when I look at the play and I see Caleb moving to his left, moving to his right, I'm going like this, okay, Prisley should be on that side, and he should be forcing, oh, he's inside. He needs to get outside, you know, and so I'm overthinking, and then I'm, as a, you know, as a player, what I used to do, I'm like, hey, man, look, we got to take care of the edge, dude. Hey, BCR, bootleg container reverse, take care of the edge, take care of the edge. If you just force it back into the help, We can do it. We can survive. But when it's not like that, it's problematic for everyone involved. And, you know, that's why this defense is going to have to go ahead and look themselves in the eye and say, hey, we can be better and do better, and they will be better.
00:37:27
Speaker 3: All right.
00:37:27
Speaker 2: Look forward to hopefully that happening in Atlanta next week. When we come back, a visit with Chuba Hubbard, who in this game had 49 yards rushing, got into the end zone. We'll hear the guy's interview. with the Panthers running back. When we continue next, again, the final score, 59-37. Bears win it over the Panthers on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network. What's that bear doing? Remember Robbie Anderson?
00:37:57
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:37:57
Speaker 2: What's that bear doing?
00:37:59
Speaker 6: 59 points.
00:37:59
Speaker 2: That's what that bear was doing today. 37 for the Panthers.
00:38:02
Speaker 3: 59-37.
00:38:02
Speaker 2: High-scoring loss for Carolina Panthers. And we'll be hearing from Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard coming up. Panthers locker room show is brought to you by Marco's Pizza. Ready for your game day dinner. Visit your local Marco's Pizza or order online today. Let's hear from Chuba.
00:38:20
Speaker 10: We're joined by Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard. Two touchdowns today, one on the ground, one through the air. Let's start, Chuba, just with the offense. And I want to start with your quarterback. This is now year four. You've seen his entire journey. Did you notice anything? different about Bryce Young in this.
00:38:38
Speaker 12: Game and leading up to this game no I mean Bryce was just being Bryce I think every single year he's proven and shown that he's gotten better obviously growing in the confidence of a of the offense and the scheme and all those type of things you get more comfortable but you know I thought he played great today was decisive made plays with his feet obviously was slinging the ball as well so shout out to Bryce.
00:38:59
Speaker 8: Hey Trouba Jake DeLome here um Yeah, I know it looks, I know it's a tough day, but offensively with Coach Idzik calling a different flow to the game, what was the feeling there?
00:39:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought Brad did a great job.
00:39:11
Speaker 12: Obviously his first real game calling plays and yeah, I think he did amazing. Obviously we were flowing on the offense, had a few times that we shot ourselves in the foot, but overall I thought we did a good job. Obviously not good enough, but we're close.
00:39:26
Speaker 8: One more thing, just Monroe Freeling, first game, right tackle. High will How was he just in the huddle and things like that?
00:39:32
Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean, in the huddle, he was great. A lot of energy, staying in it, trying to make plays, do his job. He's a great kid, works really hard. He's just going to continue to get better.
00:39:44
Speaker 4: Chuba Luke here, you looked like you had your burst back, looked fast. Just kind of talk about Your offseason, how you got prepped and trained up for this year?
00:39:52
Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean, I just went back to the lab. I know how to work hard. I tell myself that, you know, there's no stone unturned. You've got to do everything in your power to be the best. I want to help, obviously, win games here. Today I didn't do enough. But, yeah, I worked all offseason. I'm going to just continue to keep working. That's just all I know, to be honest.
00:40:12
Speaker 10: Chuba, appreciate the time.
00:40:14
Speaker 6: Thank you.
00:40:14
Speaker 3: Thank you, guys. Thanks.
00:40:16
Speaker 2: And there's Chuba Hubbard, 49 yards rushing today in the game. And Eugene, he mentioned Brad Itzik, first time in a regular season game, being the play caller here. And it looked very, very good. I mean, obviously, it's hard in a game like this because you have to just keep that pedal down because of the score being what you were chasing for a big portion of it. But you got to like what you've seen as far as. an offense that put up 478 yards today.
00:40:39
Speaker 6: You know, with the advent of Hunt and Lewis, you know, Robert Hunt and D. Lou, I think at the guard spot, and then, you know, we need to give Monroe Freeland some credit, too, because he had Montez on that side to go ahead. I mean, he's one of the premier sackers in the NFL, and so I thought for just the two sacks that happened to Bryce, I thought he did a good job. I thought he did a good job of hanging in there and and protected, we scored 37 points. And so that means the offensive line have to do their job. They have to go ahead and be able to protect the quarterback. And the quarterback took some hits, but the aggressive play calling I thought was well deserved because it allowed us to go ahead And it really spread our wings to see where we are and to see that, hey, Jalen Coker is a threat downfield.
00:41:29
Speaker 2: My goodness, we didn't know that. I thought Jimmy Horn was going to.
00:41:31
Speaker 6: Be that guy.
00:41:32
Speaker 2: No, it was Jalen Coker. So there is a.
00:41:34
Speaker 6: Lot, when you look at this, unveil it that you can go and say, wow, we're not that far away. And I'm not trying to spin it because the Bears were a beast this year, this game. No doubt about that. But when I look at it, I'm like, okay, yeah, there's a lot of bright spots there that we can go to take away from.
00:41:53
Speaker 5: But I feel like without having watched the film, but with Freeling, I think he had the sack and the penalty early, but then I think he kind of settled into a rhythm.
00:42:03
Speaker 2: Exactly. And here it is.
00:42:05
Speaker 6: He's going to play 60-something plays, you know, 70 plays that game. I mean, to have those just two plays that you mentioned and A totality of you have maybe like 66 plays. Wow, that's a lot. That's very, very good. I bet you he's going to grade out pretty, pretty well. And I bet you that entire office of line. And don't forget, the office of line is playing together for the first time.
00:42:26
Speaker 2: For the first time, right.
00:42:28
Speaker 6: For really the first time that they're playing together. So there's a lot to celebrate. I know Chuba said that we didn't do enough. And yes, we didn't do enough. But also that special teams and defense as well. We all have to do our part to go ahead and to win a game. And we all collectively didn't do enough.
00:42:47
Speaker 5: And the days of having, you know, four or five guys on an offensive line staying together for four or five years.
00:42:52
Speaker 2: And that's over.
00:42:53
Speaker 5: So you have to figure out how to build that chemistry and get that chemistry back. It's almost like the transfer portal in the college game where you're seeing a lot of turnover, especially in that unit because that unit has to play.
00:43:05
Speaker 9: The whole offense has to play as one, but it's more magnified on the offensive line.
00:43:09
Speaker 6: Look, the offensive line is made to protect the quarterback and made to protect the running back. The offensive line does all the hard... heavy lifting, every single day. We're always in 50 protection, 60 protection, or 70 protection. It means we're either just a five lineman, or the lineman and a tight end, or a running back, or a line and a tight end and a running back. So it's either 50, 60, or 70 protection. And so they have to do their job. And we don't talk about enough. When we see if Bryce gets sacked, or if we see somebody like this, oh, man, Bryce got sacked. No, because that means there was a breach somewhere that somebody didn't do their job and their assignment. So as I distill this all the way down and I'm looking at the office, I'm like, dude, there's a lot to be proud of. There's a lot that we can go and hang our hat on. And I thought that Bryce played an excellent, excellent game. He threw some passes where he got leveled.
00:44:02
Speaker 2: He got absolutely leveled.
00:44:04
Speaker 6: And he threw some dives in there too. So good for you, Bryce.
00:44:06
Speaker 2: And a right tackle making his first start.
00:44:08
Speaker 6: You know that's right.
00:44:09
Speaker 2: So a lot of, the growth that will make it even better on top of the 37 points today. Unfortunately, the Bears score 59. 59-37, the final score. We'll get the final thoughts from the guys in the booth when we continue next year as we continue from the North Lounge. Thanks for sticking around. You're listening to Panthers football.
00:44:28
Speaker 7: What a matchup we've got, folks. Just nonstop action. The energy is electric and the fans are all in. An intense game like this calls for a Coca-Cola. Crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer. Yeah, that taste scores every time. And just like that, they're back at it. Passionate fans and an ice cold Coca-Cola. Now that's a winning combo. No matter the team, no matter the sport, everyone knows fan work is thirsty work.
00:44:56
Speaker 2: Enjoy a Coca-Cola.
00:44:57
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00:45:32
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00:45:34
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00:46:00
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00:46:17
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00:46:19
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00:46:28
Speaker 1: Back to Jim Zocchi with more. Ready for your game day dinner? Visit your local Marcos Pizza or order online today.
00:46:41
Speaker 2: All right, this is your two-segment warning. We have two segments left. 59-37 Bears win over the Panthers. And we'll set it back in the booth with Jake and Luke and Anish and hear their final thoughts.
00:46:53
Speaker 10: Anish Rav, Jake DeLome, Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly here at Bank of America Stadium, week one in the books.
00:47:01
Speaker 3: Tough one.
00:47:02
Speaker 10: If you told us before the game, hey, the Panthers were going to put up 478 yards of total offense. If Bryce was going to throw for 361, throw for three TDs, run for another, if Carolina was going to score 37 and average 7.7 yards per play, I think we're all sitting here happy after the game, but that's not the case. Yes, the Panthers did all that offensively, but unfortunately the Bears hung a Keekly on us.
00:47:32
Speaker 6: 59 points.
00:47:35
Speaker 10: Carolina could not stop Chicago.
00:47:37
Speaker 8: Well, I thought the Hall of Famer was going to come through for us today by us playing in the Hall of Fame game because of him that we could have worn down Chicago. And maybe we wore down their defense a little bit, scoring 37. But, yeah, I know their offense is good, but, man, I didn't see that coming today. But speaking offensively, I think we started fast. We got the turnover. We were able to get a touchdown. I thought Bryce looked like he was in control. I thought we ran the ball pretty well. we just got behind in the second half. We had a couple of drives where we didn't do anything. Went three and out to get the ball to start the second half. And then we had the turnover on downs when we tried to get the pass to T-Mac on fourth down. And then again, we get the next play, the next time we touch the ball, big in route by T-Mac, they punch the ball out.
00:48:24
Speaker 2: And so we got caught.
00:48:25
Speaker 8: Behind the scoreboard. I don't want to say behind the sticks, behind the scoreboard, but A lot of good things, I think, defensively. Luke's probably going to hit on that. But we had some critical penalties at crucial times today that hurt us. But offensively, we did some pretty good things. I have to admit that.
00:48:44
Speaker 10: Luke, defensively, there was a lot of chatter coming into this game, right? Devin Lloyd, Jalen Phillips. I know Nick Skorton went out early in training camp. And Pat Jones was out. And I'm not. discounting the Bears offense we might be sitting here four or five weeks from now and with Ben Johnson Chicago might be on a historical tear offensively that could very well be the case but given all that was put in in the offseason on the defensive side of the ball I think that's where you feel a little disheartened.
00:49:15
Speaker 4: Yeah I mean absolutely Anytime somebody hangs 50 on you, there's a lot to talk about, but I think the frustrating part for us is in the first half, we hurt ourselves. You let Caleb Williams out of the pocket multiple times. Not only does he score touchdowns with his legs, but he's able to extend plays, and when he extends plays, it turns into big plays and then the penalties. We had the Bobby Brown interception which would have taken points off the board when the game was still very much within reach and then kind of there at the end of the game and that last DeAndre Swift touchdown. You've got to find ways to get people on the ground and that comes by just winning your one-on-one matchups and being a little bit more physical than they are.
00:50:03
Speaker 2: It's hot.
00:50:03
Speaker 4: It's the first game of the year so trying to get your legs underneath you but You know, them running the ball, they ran for 291 yards today, and some of that was from Caleb Williams, but the backs were over 100 yards, and let's just be honest, it just can't happen. So, you know, Jake nailed it. Going into next week, it doesn't get any easier with Tyler Algier and Bijan Robinson and that offense, so we got to get in there and make some adjustments and recenter ourselves, but, you know, great job on the offense, 37 points, and On defense, it just can't happen.
00:50:38
Speaker 10: You look at where this game turned. Panthers tie it up in that third quarter at 31 after being down seven at the half. Bears come back. They go down the field and score. Carolina gets into Chicago territory. They turn it over on downs. Bears get the ball back.
00:50:55
Speaker 2: They score.
00:50:55
Speaker 10: OK, you're still down two scores. Panthers, again, moving the ball. Tedderall McMillan has a big gain at the end of the play. He fumbles. Chicago gets the ball back, scores. And now all of a sudden, a game that a few minutes ago was there within your grasp, you're now staring at a three-score deficit. That essentially killed the Panthers, those little plays. And the self-inflicted wounds, which we talked about at times last year, they showed up. Luke, you mentioned the penalties, right? Even down by 21, it looked like the Panthers had a pick at the goal line. Instead, that was called back on a penalty. So there is a lot to clean up. I think going forward, you look at Atlanta next week, their quarterback situation's a complete mess. They're going to run Bijan Robinson 30 times, you've got to imagine.
00:51:43
Speaker 6: Yeah, 100%.
00:51:43
Speaker 4: And it's not just him. It's Tyler Algier, and it's a little bit of thunder and lightning. And Bijan's got every tool in the belt to beat you. And then he spreads you out, and he beats you with speed and quickness and bursts. And then Algier comes in, and he's going to run right at your face. And he's physical, and he's hard to tackle. And then let's not. Let's not forget about the two guys that have been the outside, Kyle Pitts and Drake London, two guys that are really high-end football players. So just because Tua's out and Penix is out doesn't mean they're still not going to be a dangerous football team.
00:52:15
Speaker 10: And Jake, I want to end on this because a lot was made of what happens to Bryce Young and how he fares. Had struggled in some season openers in the past. Bryce played well. Four total touchdowns. This wasn't a 150-yard game. He threw for 360. This is kind of the quarterback that you want to see for the Panthers. Offensively, there's a lot to like going forward.
00:52:39
Speaker 8: I think there's a ton to like offensively. I think Freeland gave up one negative play today. I think that's about it for the most part. We didn't talk about him, so that's usually a good thing. But, yeah, Bryce, there was a sense of urgency. I thought he threw the ball well. I thought he threw it away. Yeah, we had the one pick right before the half. But there was five seconds left. It was really no harm because Chicago didn't get anything from it.
00:53:03
Speaker 2: But, yeah.
00:53:04
Speaker 8: Just we took shots down the field. It's called the out and up when we had the touchdown to Coker.
00:53:09
Speaker 2: And that was nice. That was good to see.
00:53:12
Speaker 8: And hopefully that can continue forward because this is not going to be the same defense we're going to.
00:53:16
Speaker 3: See week in and week out.
00:53:17
Speaker 2: We're going to fix it.
00:53:18
Speaker 8: We're going to correct many, many things. But offensively, hopefully this can be the offense that we're going to see week in and week out.
00:53:25
Speaker 2: All right.
00:53:25
Speaker 10: Once again, final score, Chicago 59, Carolina 37. The Panthers on the road for the next two weeks at Atlanta, at Cleveland. Two teams that can potentially help the defense get right before a big Sunday night or in week four when they're back home, back at Bank of America Stadium, and the Lions come to town.
00:53:48
Speaker 2: Highest scoring season opener in NFL history. Bears win it 59-37. You know you had to come to Brewskies. Over the Panthers.
00:53:55
Speaker 14: And.
00:53:57
Speaker 2: We'll take a break here. When we come back. Two of us know we're doing a live radio show. One of us doesn't. You can guess who's who. Again, two of the three of us know there's a live radio show going on. What we're going to do is go to break. And when we come back, we'll pick our hardest working player of the game.
00:54:20
Speaker 7: 59-37.
00:54:21
Speaker 2: Bears beat the Panthers. More coming up next as we continue. You're listening to Panthers football and Eugene.
00:54:30
Speaker 1: The Panthers postgame show presented by Marcos Pizza continues. Ready for your game day dinner? Visit your local Marcos Pizza or order online today.
00:54:43
Speaker 2: So, Eugene, we're back on the radio now with Mike and Jim. Time to pick our hardest working player of the game presented by Sunbelt Rentals, the official rental equipment partner. Of the Carolina Panthers. Bears win over the Panthers 59-37. Mike, I'll let you go first. Who do you think is the hardest working player for the Panthers?
00:55:03
Speaker 3: I'm going to go with Jalen Coker.
00:55:04
Speaker 9: I really like the game that he had.
00:55:07
Speaker 4: Some big catches.
00:55:07
Speaker 9: And there's a lot of good candidates.
00:55:08
Speaker 5: But for me, the pride of Holy Cross is our hardest working player.
00:55:13
Speaker 2: I see what you did there. There you go. All right.
00:55:16
Speaker 6: I'm going to go with Bryce Young. I thought that Bryce was just absolutely sensational today. And Of course, Jalen Coker, he's definitely that guy. But, man, Bryce showed so much moxie and so much poise. And you can tell that he has a command.
00:55:30
Speaker 2: Of this offense. I, too, am going to go with Jalen Coker. But I want to give a shout out. I believe Devin Lloyd ended up with 13 tackles in this game.
00:55:37
Speaker 9: Way to go, Lloyd.
00:55:37
Speaker 2: Which I know when you're giving up a lot of yards and a lot of points, you're going to have a lot of tackles, too. But he did on a really hot day out there. And I think he's going to be such a key cog in this defense throughout the entire course of the season. So. I'm sure he'd rather not have been out there for 13 tackles, but I wanted to at least give him a shout out for having the effort that he had in that one. But I agree with you, Mike. I think Jalen Coker was the guy today with the three touchdowns in the big day he had in the receiving game. So, all right, fellas, next week we got the Atlanta Falcons on the road.
00:56:03
Speaker 6: Do we need to explain about the guy not wanting to leave?
00:56:06
Speaker 2: It's entirely up to you.
00:56:07
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:56:11
Speaker 2: No.
00:56:11
Speaker 6: We had a guy that was not wanting to leave in North Lowndes. Everybody's been exited out. So I was like, hey, man, you got to go. You were trying to help out the security guard. Hey, you need to go to the stage. Exit stage left.
00:56:21
Speaker 9: You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.
00:56:22
Speaker 6: I know you can't stay here. Thank you for your patronage. We really appreciate it, but you got to go.
00:56:26
Speaker 7: Yep.
00:56:26
Speaker 2: And just being the bouncer that he is, Eugene, handled the situation.
00:56:30
Speaker 6: There you go.
00:56:30
Speaker 3: Thank you.
00:56:30
Speaker 2: Handle your business, young man. Thanks to... I used to say that a lot. He wasn't a young man, though. Thanks to Bernie and Braxton, Matt, who was here for part of the time. 59-37. Podcast Mizzy. 59-37.
00:56:44
Speaker 9: Just pod.
00:56:44
Speaker 2: It's a fact. You were here part of it. I know you were doing Spanish radio, but you were here. This is our show. Spanish radio didn't thank us for anything. So we're thanking you for being here for part of the show.
00:56:53
Speaker 6: Podcast Mizzy.
00:56:54
Speaker 3: Mizzy. Yes.
00:56:56
Speaker 2: Buenos dias. Thank you. 59-37 Bears over the Panthers. The final score. Thanks for listening. We'll talk to you next week after the Panthers play in Atlanta.
00:57:04
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers football is brought to you by Harris Teeter, the official grocery store of your Carolina Panthers. Bank of America, what would you like the power to do? Marco's Pizza, ready for your game day dinner? Visit your local Marco's Pizza or order online today. Mount Olive, the official pickle juice of the Carolina Panthers. This is the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.