Carolina Panthers vs Bears Week 1 Preseason: Preview, Prediction, Watch

The Carolina Panthers travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears in their first preseason game of the 2019-20 season. Who will take the field? What should you watch for?

Preseason football is a tough thing to report on because no matter what we see on the field you may only be getting 50 percent of the team’s true identity. The best way to go about it is to look at what is presented, make predictions and do the best with what you can but don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.

Obviously, the biggest question on everyone’s mind is the status of Cam Newton and his shoulder and unfortunately, these questions will not be answered on Thursday. According to Will Bryan for panthers.com, Cam Newton nor Luke Keuchley will be seeing any minutes in the first preseason game of the season. Head Coach Ron Rivera said:

"It’s just to be careful. There are a lot of things that we want to see from the young guys. By doing that, we give Kyle (Allen) an opportunity right off the bat. We’re going to have a few more games where his reps are certainly going to be limited. Everything we are doing with Cam has been mapped out and everything is fine. Norv (Turner) and Scott (Turner) have sat down and talked things over with (head athletic trainer) Ryan Vermillion. Again, we are just going through the next step in the process."

I truly believe this is nothing to panic about. Although it would be nice to see Cam throw in a game and perhaps calm some nerves in Charlotte, it makes plenty of sense not to play the ninth-year veteran. If things are as they are being told and Ron Rivera and Norv Turner just want Cam to get his rest and stick with the schedule, by all means. I would rather have a healthy Cam in December than in August.

This will also allow for the Panthers to figure out who is their backup guy. Matthew Stephens of the Charlotte Observer reported that Kyle Allen will get the start on Thursday, but with it being the preseason, I would not be surprised to see perhaps three quarterbacks take snaps. This allows for the Panthers to have an actual contingency plan at quarterback if Newton goes down again, something they struggled with after his late exit last season that saw the Panthers trying three other guys at the position.

Keuchley, who has been dealing with an undisclosed injury all of training camp has also been on a lot of Panther’s fans mind after his history with head injuries. However, Keuchley did confirm that he was not in the concussion protocol,

"My head is good. I wasn’t in the protocol. Like coach has said, I just got rolled up weird and they said ‘You gotta sit out, Luke,’ and you gotta listen to what they say. I practiced the last few days. Everything is fine. I just got hit weird on the side, but it’s all good."

Again, I don’t believe this is anything to worry about. I am no athletic trainer nor football coach and if they feel that the veteran defensive captain needs to take a little more time to be regular-season ready, I’m all for it. Second-year Jermaine Carter will get the start.

I’m interested to see how the Panthers offensive line will look. The Panthers intend on using their sixth-round pick Dennis Daley in a big way. Yesterday, he told reporters that he is learning how to play every position on the offensive line aside from center,

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Daley is obviously looking at a heavy workload and the Panthers are showing they want to make him their man, by training him to do literally everything.

The Bears are a heavy favorite at home and I tend to agree with that. The Panthers are trying a lot of new things out for the first time and I just can’t be sure that a win is necessarily on the top of the wishlist. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I would rather have a preseason loss where we learn something than a preseason win where we lose something (or someone).

Prediction

Bears 21, Panthers 16

Here’s how you can watch Sunday’s Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears preseason game:
Date: Thursday, August 8th
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Venue: Soldier Field
TV: WSOC (ABC/9 – Charlotte)
WTVD (ABC/11 – Raleigh/Durham)
WFMY (CBS/2 – Greensboro NC)
WITN (NBC/7 – Greenville NC)
WSFX (FOX/26 – Wilmington NC)
WYFF (NBC/4 – Greenville SC)
WMBF (NBC/32 – Myrtle Beach)
WACH (FOX/57 – Columbia SC)
WCSC (CBS/5 – Charleston SC)
WVEC (ABC/13 – Norfolk VA)
WFXR (FOX/21-27 – Roanoke VA)
WJBF (ABC/6 – Augusta GA)
WTGS (FOX/28 – Savannah GA)
Live Stream: You can stream the game live on Panthers.com