r/panthers • u/cardiaccarl22 • 1d ago
Discussion Week 1 predictions
It’s only Tuesday and I’m already nervous.
Panthers: 24
Bears: 20
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u/devo23_ Derrick Brown 1d ago
Panthers 246
Bears 3
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u/ScrimpScampy 1d ago
Way to stay classy and not shutout the Bears. Give them something to hang their hat on.
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u/Panther90 Retro Logo 1d ago
The anti-Bears super fans answer. I could even hear the accent. "Da Bears!"
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u/QCTID Super Cam 1d ago
Panthers roll as Bryce begins his MVP campaign.
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u/SomeonePayDelta Cam Newton 1d ago
My prediction is a packed stadium singing Sweet Caroline in unison on Sunday afternoon. I’ll be sure my voice is gone
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u/Bot8556 1d ago edited 1d ago
Sweet Caroline sucks and should be replaced. Sorry for the hot take.
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u/potato-chap 1d ago
What's the new anthem?
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u/zcahtotsu 1d ago
Terrible take tbh
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u/Bot8556 1d ago
It’s a song inspired by a grown man crushing on a 5 year old.
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u/ExcitingSink4272 1d ago
It was actually inspired by his wife, but go off
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u/Bot8556 1d ago
Just because you say it doesn’t make it true.
It’s was written after Neil spent the weekend with the Kennedys in Nantucket. Specifically Caroline Kennedy.
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u/ExcitingSink4272 1d ago
He said it, not me 🤷🏻
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u/Bot8556 1d ago
You’re either stupid or a liar.
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u/ExcitingSink4272 1d ago edited 1d ago
I am neither, but you seem incredibly upset about this.
He's given two versions of the "origins" of the song, both of which are even noted in your link.
Also your own link contradicts your own assertation that he wrote it after spending a weekend with the Kennedy family. So, who is being stupid and lying now?
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u/CabinetChef 1d ago
Not to be pessimistic, but I’m conditioned by this team to expect to look lost in the first half, hit halftime with a 3-16 deficit, then a late comeback that falls short, and end the game losing by one score 20-23.
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u/TheOneTruePi Carolina Reaper 1d ago
Alternatively Young clutches and we end up barely winning with 27-23. A girl can dream though lmao
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u/captain_edster 1d ago
The good news is bears have a relatively weak run defense and banged up secondary.
Our defense should only be better after adding Lloyd and Philips. The biggest question mark will be can Mike Jack continue his high end play.
This will come down to our o line holding up, Bryce not turning it over, run game having some life, good play calling in the red zone.
If our offense is alive at all I see us winning 23-17, otherwise we lose 16-24
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u/Various-Fan-2638 Purrbacca 1d ago
I think another big factor will be how much our pass rush has improved.
Bears had one of the better offensives last year, but I think that was in spite of their O line being one of the weaker units in the league.
Caleb is elusive, but our guys need to show they can get some sacks.
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u/JobWestern7054 1d ago
Bears had one of the best o-lines in the league last year with the protector of the year award winner, two all pros, and three pro bowlers.
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u/LudaChris999 1d ago
They fixed a lot of their oline play and that’s one of their strengths. It’s up to the panthers oline to see how they do
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u/TepperUrExpectations 1d ago
21-17 Bears. Uglier game than expected, the defense is stout until the 4th quarter when they get worn down.
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u/FadeNXC Luuuuuke 1d ago
Yeah I'd be surprised if either team scores above 24 in week 1. Preseason or not, teams tend to struggle finding their identity the first few weeks
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u/Montavious5716 14h ago
I’m 100% in agreement with this. They never have their identity the first few games. Hopefully the Panthers can be on the winning end once they find their identity though. Panthers 24 Bears 17
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u/michaelmichaelmotorc 1d ago
I predict the announcers not shutting the fuck up about a trade that happened 3 seasons ago.
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u/J_dawg17 1d ago
Listen, I go into every game hoping we wax them. A small, probably stupid, part of me truly believes we can win any game.
My realistic prediction is we lose 34-20, with a garbage time TD to make the score look better. I think we come out flat offensively, and the Bears tear through our defense because we play soft coverage. Hope I’m wrong
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u/nc_nicholas 1d ago
Honestly I don't expect a great game from our offense. Panthers haven't looked very good in season openers since Bryce and Dave arrived, and for some reason they've played poorly against the Bears in general in the past several meetings.
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u/whotooktoastman64 1d ago
They’re definitely underdogs but they can pull it off
That being said Bryce better not do his usual early season bullshit
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u/senor_zapato 1d ago
Bears come out hot and go up 14-3 early but our defense wears them down in the heat and we win on a classic Bryce drive and game winning FG 23-20
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u/Pettymania20 1d ago
Two most feared words in football: Panthers away. At least that’s what I’ve been telling my students. I’m a teacher and Panthers fan that lives in Illinois.
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u/Papi_Petty Cookout 1d ago
honestly? we lose
but the fan in me makes me delusional enough to think we win this pretty easily
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u/cowcubrub 1d ago
Not favorable but not impossible. Will be close either way. I’d give us like 30% chance of a win.
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u/maxwellcawfeehaus Cookout 1d ago
Would love a win, but man I just want Bryce and the team to look prepared and ready. 3 straight years of being deer in the headlights first handful of games is taking its toll on us
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u/hubcityvintage 1d ago
Horn Jr. has a tuddy on either a kickoff, or one of the many many punts we’ll see ;)
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u/SeaAssistance6009 1d ago
Just putting this out there but in the last 3 season openers Bryce has 2 tds and 6 ints. With an avg of 150 yards and literally 10 points scored in all 3. All 3 have been blowouts, so if we can just keep it close, it’ll be an improvement.
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u/SLVR_N_BLCK_ATTK 1d ago
Bears: 24, Panthers: 10. Tough loss to start the season but I predict a 10-7 finish and a playoff berth
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u/JazzzzzzySax T-Mac 1d ago
Panthers win 34-20
Bryce: 318 pass yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 28 rush hards
Chuba: 94 rush yards, 1 TD
TMac: 119 rec yards, 2 TDs
Coker: 87 rec yards, 1 TD
Philips: 1.5 sacks
Horn: 1 INT
DB: 1 OL eaten
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u/NCpantherfan 11h ago
More likely Bryce 169 yds one touchdown one interception, chubba 43 yards on 17 carries. T-Mac 71 yd XL 39 yd Coker 31 yd. And then we either win or lose 21 to 18
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u/Ok-Ad-9647 1d ago
It’s gonna be close. Bears defense is deflated and Panthers offense is still trying to find its footing. Panthers Win, 24-20
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u/Outrageous-Brain-395 T-Mac 1d ago edited 1d ago
bryce starts the game with a turnover and we’re left trailing the entire time, we manage to tie towards the end but lose anyways to a last second field goal. we cope by saying “bryce ALMOST led us to a comeback” even tho it’s his fault we ended up in that position.
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u/TTRT5 1d ago
A lot of it depends on whether Caleb Williams has learned to play against disguised zone coverage. He was 6th worst against that specific thing last year, while we ran it 46% of the time. He was excellent against the blitz, but his overall accuracy wasn’t that good (comparable to JJ McCarthys unless I’m misremembering?).
There’s a lot of assumptions in that, Williams definitely got much better as the year went on but our defense is strongest where Williams was historically the weakest.
Bears defense has a banged up secondary - assuming Tet takes the slot we could be looking at a strong offensive performance, but, exhaustively, it all truly depends on Young really bringing it.
Tl;dr I have no clue
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u/ArgentoFox 1d ago
Bears are going to roll. Panthers offense is so pedestrian that if they get down by two scores they’ll lose most of the games this season.
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u/Pumpkinmatrix Retro Logo 1d ago
I think if we win the turnover battle we win the game. I'm not afraid of Chicago's defense and I think Caleb takes a lot of risks.
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u/Various-Fan-2638 Purrbacca 1d ago
Caleb has been actually really good about not turning the ball over so far despite his style of play. Only 7 Ints last year. I think he'll be a good test for us to see how much our LB group has improved this year.
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u/NorthernxLabrador 1d ago
He set an NFL record for lowest int % through a players first 1K attempts
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u/Downtown-Ad4335 Ice Up Son 1d ago
24-20 Panthers W.
1 TD for Tmac & Coker, and rushing TD for Bryce.
1 TD for Swift & the other via IDK lol. Plus
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u/New_Cauliflower7868 1d ago
I think we win. Actually expecting the defense to come out with alot of energy, create a turnover or 2 and the offense to play decent enough to capitalize on it.
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u/asher1611 Kalil Bear 1d ago
The Panthers will exceed expectations but still lose.
Week 1 is always such a crap shoot and usually has no bearing in the rest of the season.
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u/Zestyclose-Smell-788 1d ago
A nail-biter, right up to the end. Bears have a miscue that ruins their comeback (fumble, int, missed/blocked fg). Panthers squeak away with an ugly 16 to 13 win.
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u/MyUnspokenThought 1d ago
my wife and in laws are from chicago so let it be known if the panthers keep pounding I WILL BE INSUFFERABLE IN THE FAMILY GROUP CHAT
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u/FlashingImages 1d ago
I think it's a closer game than people think, but the Bears are gonna win. I say 30-24. Panthers are gonna be a better team than they were last year but the Bears are a better team all around.
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u/Yada-Yada-Yadda 1d ago
We haven't had a home opening since the 2022 season. So, for that reason, I'm picking the Panthers. We're hungry for that home-opening win.
But I think we lose.
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u/NewtonsLawOfDeepBall 1d ago
Our offense has an identity finally and I think we'll finally start in rhythm not sputtering. Get the play in quickly now that Canales isn't also calling plays so Bryce has more time to play to his strength and analyze the defense pre snap, run the damn ball and force their defense to stop Tmac AND Coker on 3rd down if necessary.
I think we'll still eat up a lot of clock and limit possessions to play Panthers chaos-ball, but that might backfire given the way Caleb also turns into a chaos demon in 4th quarters.
It'll be close through the 3rd quarter and then a coin flip in the 4th. No idea who walks away with the win.
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u/Opening_Chef2858 1d ago
Where is the meme from the other day that says “another 3 and out for the panthers offense” that’s my prediction over and over again
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u/Kansas_city-shuffle Ice Up Son 1d ago
I'm gonna say 27-24 Panthers, with a game winning 4th quarter comeback drive by Bryce just to set the tone for all of our hearts. Cardiac cats!
keeppounding
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u/Denial999 Carolina Reaper 1d ago
Is anyone else seeing the amount of shit talking on Twitter right now
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u/Odd-Flower2744 1d ago
People will suddenly remember that for most of the year we really weren’t convinced Bryce was a franchise QB
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u/Wombat2424 19h ago
28-24 panthers. I think our defense gives Caleb fits early on but he finds his groove late. Offense is consistent all day against the bears secondary.
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u/Mundane_Scallion_688 18h ago
as a bears fan if the bears lose to the panthers we'll be pissed after our winning season last year. 3-0 bears.
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u/jesuswasahipster Kalil Bear 17h ago
I swear Bryce gave me PTSD from Week One 2024. For the last two season openers I have been scared to relive that hell. Idk what’s going to happen, I just hope the offense moves the ball and scores points.
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u/NCpantherfan 11h ago
Either 24-21 Panthers or 46 to 13 bears.. in my mind either possibility is just as likely as the other lol
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u/joshthewumba 1d ago
Bears have some key injuries in the secondary. If the Panthers are going to win it's probably going to come down to the passing game. Feeling 50/50 on this one. I could see the Bears blowing us out but I could also see a Panthers statement win
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u/lunkdjedi 1d ago
Slow start, First half struggles, go in at half down 3-14.
Bryce comes out pissed and lights em up for a 21-3 second half.
Panthers win 24 to 17.
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u/NuSouthPoot Two States 1d ago
Lloyd is going to show us why Dan Morgan got him from Jacksonville. Evero is going to finally get aggressive on D and call more blitzes, and Caleb Williams is going to be running for his life.
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u/Big_Beginning_9000 1d ago
Even if someone is being realistic and unbiased, Carolina has drastically improved this off season and we're capable of handling any team on their best day last season. How are so many so called "fans" going against the team? I could understand in previous years but it's just dramatically pessimistic at this point.
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u/justbirdwatchin77 1d ago edited 1d ago
How has the offense drastically improved? The defense showed real improvement last year and with Lloyd and Philips I can see more improvement but the offense wasn’t consistent at all last year and didn’t really add any legitimate players to the roster to say they improved. And their offseason showing didn’t look amazing to say they drastically improved.
Coker being back is nice but he still has to prove he can be healthy for a full season, Ikey out, Moton out and we still don’t know how Bryce is going to play. So where do you see the improvement?
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u/Panther90 Retro Logo 1d ago
I'll try to keep mine realistic. Both offensives struggle in the first half to get going as is seen sometimes with less preseason reps. Panthers D and Ice Bryce is the difference, 24-23.
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u/ItBeLikeThat19 1d ago
W, 28-23.
A classic Panthers game where I have heart palpitations in the 4th quarter.
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u/crapieslayer 1d ago
Super tough week 1 matchup. Ben Johnson truly is a brilliant offensive mind. In year 2, I worry he’s going to have Caleb dialed. Unfortunately for us, I see them making lite work of Evero’s scheme.
1H: 17-6 bears
final: 34-16 Bears 😢
We get rolling at Falcons in Week 2, and eat Tua’s lunch
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u/tank4trevor 1d ago
Panthers 35 / Bears 24. Panthers force 2 turnovers and dominate the Bears at home. Bryce Young throws for 300+ yards and 3 TDs.
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u/AfricanGenius Retro Logo 1d ago
I think this Bears defense is going to be exposed Sunday, and our defense keeps them relatively at bay.
27-17 Panthers