The Chicago Bears feel they’re pointing in the right direction. They’ve been in almost every game they’ve played this year. They just can’t close things out. Part of it is from fielding one of the youngest rosters in the league. Another part is a glaring lack of talent. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus knew this season would be a challenge. At 3-11, that has proven true. They have lots of work ahead of them during the coming spring. This roster should be significantly better unless things are completely bungled when the 2023 season kicks off.
One interesting question is who the Bears will end up facing. Everybody knows six games will be reserved for their NFC North rivals. Where it gets interesting is the other 11 matchups. Another eight games will go against the NFC South and AFC West divisions. That means games against Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, and Justin Herbert. According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, the other three contests will be determined by how two other divisions finish in terms of their rankings.
“The Bears will play home games against their NFC North rivals along with the Atlanta Falcons, Panthers, Broncos, Raiders and the corresponding finisher from the NFC West. The Bears are last in their division, meaning right now they would host the lower finisher between the Cardinals and Rams.
The Bears will play road games against their division rivals plus trips to face the New Orleans Saints, Buccaneers, Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers and the corresponding finishers in the NFC East and AFC North. Right now, that would mean road games against the Commanders, who are a game behind the Giants, and either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Cleveland Browns, who are tied at 6-8 at the bottom of the AFC North.”
The Chicago Bears’ 2023 schedule could be beneficial.
Much of it will be against opponents that aren’t very good this year. The Steelers, Browns, Rams, Cardinals, Falcons, Panthers, Broncos, Raiders, Saints, and Buccaneers all have losing records this season. Now NFL logic says there is little chance all of those teams will be bad again next. There are always some that manage quick turnarounds after productive off-seasons. Tampa Bay and Cleveland are reasonable bets. Denver, too, if they can get better coaching. Other teams will be vulnerable unless they figure out their bad quarterback situations.
It is unlikely the Chicago Bears will be intimidated by that schedule. Despite their record, they’ve played tough against some of the best teams in the league this year, like Philadelphia, San Francisco, Minnesota, and Miami. If they can retool their defense and upgrade Justin Fields’ supporting cast, they have a chance to turn some of those close losses into wins. This is how rebuilds go. Stockpiling talent is their priority. This team will be good enough to compete with anybody if they do their jobs.
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good to know. tooooooo far in the future… but good to know.
Umm, remember at the beginning of this year, when it was widely mentioned that the Bears has the second easiest strength of schedule based on last year’s record? Well, as we’ve played this year out, the Bears (as of week 15) have the hardest strength of schedule in the NFL. No one guessed that the NFC East would transform itself from a division of doormats to a division of 4 potential playoff teams. Next year, we have the NFC South, who are all sub average (Tampa Bay is leading the division at 6-8 as of week 15, although every team… Read more »