Takeaways from the Chicago Bears' 2026 schedule release

Name: Why the Chicago Bears back-to-back games against Super Bowl contenders doesn't worry Matt Spiegel
Uploaded: 2026-05-14T20:17:18-05:00
Description: The Bears have Week 7 and 8 primetime games against the Super Bowl LX participants. That doesn't worry The Score's Matt Spiegel, though. He explains why.

Why the Chicago Bears back-to-back games against Super Bowl contenders doesn't worry Matt Spiegel

The Bears have Week 7 and 8 primetime games against the Super Bowl LX participants. That doesn't worry The Score's Matt Spiegel, though. He explains why.

We knew who the Chicago Bears were going to play in the 2026 season. Now, we know when and where.

The Bears' 2026 season schedule was released on Thursday, and it offered an early glimpse at what the year could look like for the defending NFC North champions.

Here are our takeaways from the Bears' 2026 schedule, which includes a difficult middle stretch with a chance for even more games under the bright lights.

Primetime Bears in 2026

The Bears played in five primetime games. In 2026, they get seven games in standalone island windows.

Their first comes against the Eagles on Monday Night Football. They get three in a row between Weeks 7 and 9. Then, they’re leading off on both holiday slates with noon games on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. They also get the Bills on Saturday night.

This is a sharp contrast to the Bears opening the 2025 season on Monday Night Football against the Vikings, getting the Commanders on Monday Night Football and getting more standout games against the Packers and 49ers.

The Ben Johnson Effect led to a stellar 2025 season. That also means the Bears will be a team the league wants under the bright lights more often.

There could be more, too, if the NFL flexes the Bears to more primetime games if they’re winning.

The Bears 2026 schedule offers little reprieve

In the 2025 season, the Bears had a four-game span where they faced the New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders and New Orleans Saints.

All of these teams missed the playoffs. Five of these teams picked in the top 10 of the 2026 NFL Draft.

On paper, it doesn’t look like the Bears will get such luck in 2026. The teams that are expected to be picking high in the 2027 NFL Draft don’t bunch together on this schedule.

The Bears get the Jets at home, the New Orleans Saints after their bye week and travel to Miami in December. That’s a solid break, especially with getting out of the Chicago cold in December for sunny Miami. The Jets, with two new coordinators and a roster in transition, visit Soldier Field early on.

Even when the Bears get Miami, a team with a first-year head coach, that game is sandwiched between the Lions, Jaguars, Bills, Packers and Lions again.

There’s no easy stretch, no matter what quarter of the season you look at. If the Bears want to be Super Bowl contenders, this schedule will truly test to see if the Bears are up to that billing.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 18: Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears leads a huddle during an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Los Angeles Rams at Soldier Field on January 18, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Kara Durrette/Gett

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NFC North will come down to a tense December

If the Bears want to repeat as NFC North champions, they’ll have to make Bears fans happy on the holidays.

The Bears get games on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day against the Lions and Packers, respectively. They’ll close out the year with the Lions and Vikings after that Christmas Day showdown with Green Bay, too.

In fact, every NFC North team plays multiple in-division games in the final four weeks of the regular season.

If the Bears clinch the North, it’ll most likely come in that final stretch of the regular season. On the other hand, a team could also lose the division in that stretch, too.