Chicago Bears’ fight vs. Panthers has Ben Johnson amped up

The Chicago Bears first drive of the 2026 season went about as poorly as head coach Ben Johnson could’ve expected. However, the franchise managed to bounce back and earn a 59-37 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

On that first drive, the Bears were called for holding and ultimately fumbled the ball. The Panthers would go on to score a touchdown with such great field position.

But Chicago didn’t wave their white flag. Instead, they scored a touchdown on their next three possessions. The Bears’ willingness to fight back was one of Johnson’s biggest takeaways from the Week 1 win, via the head coach’s postgame press conference.

“These guys really rose to the occasion, the head coach said. “They played hard for each other. We had some adversity on that first drive. Nobody blinks, nobody bats an eye. That’s probably what I’m most proud of there.”

While the Bears nearly dropped 60, Johnson knows there’s still work to be done. He has already discussed with his team plans for improvement.

Ben Johnson wants more from Chicago Bears

The Bears are now shifting their attention to their Week 2 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. Then, Johnson will expect to see cleaner play from his roster. Still, the head coach understands there might still be some rust in Week 1. As the year goes on, Johnson is expecting Chicago to be much more consistent.

“We talked about as a team, get to the plane with a win. We did that,” Johnson said. “Now we’re in a race to improve in all three phases and collectively as a team, that’s what we got to do.

“It only gets harder from here on out. You’d like to think in a long season like this. We’re playing our worst football early on and we continue to get better and better and better. That’s really the message, all three phases we’ve got to get better each and every week.

It’s never linear, there’s some dips along the way,” he concluded. “And yet, as long as we’re doing whatever we need to do to try and find a way at the end of the game to get the victory that’s what it’s about.”

It’s clear the defense has a lot of room to grow. Even offensively, Johnson thinks the Bears could still improve. But after Week 1, the head coach clearly sees the vision. Now it’s up to Chicago to execute.

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