Balanced Bears Schedule Looks Inviting

Analysis: It's a Bears schedule with every imaginable element in it from revenge to ending a losing streak to a young QB trying to prove himself.

USA Today

It would be easy for Bears fans to look at the schedule and breathe a sigh of relief.

Things could be so much worse for them, for quarterback Justin Fields. In this league, however, good turns into bad in a couple of weeks.

So many games are against teams of similar talent level, so many are against teams with problems who are trying to do what the Bears are doing. Fields shouldn't be overwhelmed in most weeks as he tries to establish he should get his fifth-year option picked up.

Aaron Rodgers is gone, and in comes Jordan Love for his second NFL start in the season opener at Soldier Field. There can be no tougher situation for a young quarterback than facing a rival on the road to start a season.

If this Bears rebuilding project is to turn things around, there's no better place to start than Week 1 because it's the Packers who have been the bane of their existence. They've lost eight straight to Green Bay.

By the time the Bears see Love again, the course of the season will have been determined because it will be the finale in Green Bay. The game might not mean anything to either team at that point. Or it might mean everything.

Bears lore is they own an edge in cold weather at Soldier Field against warm-weather teams. They get to play Atlanta and Arizona in late December at Soldier Field, and face Detroit at home in December. The Lions might practice in the cold at times but play games indoors at home.

So the elements could favor the Bears.

They have five teams on the schedule who made the playoffs last year, another advantage.

The Bears were ranked 19th in the Pro Football Focus power ratings and they play eight teams below them in those ratings: Washington, Tampa Bay, Denver, Carolina, Atlanta, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Washington all were rated below the Bears in those PFF rankings and are on this schedule.

On the other hand, three of their prime-time games are on the road and that's never easy.

Two Thursday night games when they'll have to go without much practice are challenging, even if they're playing Washington and Carolina in those games.

A Monday night game at Minnesota can't be easy by any means, even if the Vikings might not be able to duplicate their 2022 season when they managed to win close games practically every week.

Tampa Bay doesn't have Tom Brady anymore and the Packers don't have Rodgers, but the Bears must face Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert on the road. They face Derek Carr, Kyler Murray and DeShaun Watson, in addition to Jared Goff and Kirk Cousins twice. They also face Russell Wilson, who would have a hard time being worse this year than he was last season—and he has Sean Payton as his coach now.

They have revenge games just like any year. David Montgomery will face them twice with Detroit looking for revenge after Ryan Poles didn't retain him. Then again, DJ Moore was traded when he really didn't expect it and so the revenge works in favor of the Bears in their Thursday night home game with Carolina. 

It figures to be an easier schedule overall with more balance to it and no extremely difficult stretches, but then again last year they were thought to have one of the eight easiest schedules and it wound up being the NFL's toughest schedule (.571 opponents win percentage).

With Fields looking to prove he can win tight games after the Bears lost seven by eight or less last year, they can use any edge they can get.

It's a situation setting up well for a young quarterback to prove he should be the franchise's passer for the future.

Bears 2023 Schedule

Preseason

Week 1: Tennessee at Bears, Date, Time TBA

Week 2: Bears at Indianapolis, Date, Time TBA

Week 3: Buffalo at Bears, Date, Time TBA

Regular Season

Week 1 Green Bay at Bears, 3:25 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10

Week 2 At Tampa Bay, noon, Sunday, Sept. 17

Week 3 At Kansas City, 3:25 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 24

Week 4, Denver at Bears, Sunday, noon, Sunday, Oct. 1

Week 5, At Washington, Thursday, 7:15 p.m., Oct. 5

Week 6, Minnesota at Bears, Sunday, noon, Oct. 15

Week 7, Las Vegas at Bears, Sunday, noon, Oct. 22

Week 8, At L.A. Chargers, Sunday, 7:20 p.m., Oct. 29

Week 9, At New Orleans, Sunday, noon, Nov. 5

Week 10, Carolina at Bears, Thursday, 7:15 p.m., Nov. 9

Week 11, At Detroit, Sunday, noon, Nov. 19

Week 12, At Minnesota, Monday, 7:15 p.m., Nov. 27

BYE week 13, Dec. 3

Week 14, Detroit at Bears, Sunday, noon, Dec. 10

Week 15, At Cleveland, Sunday, TBA

Week 16, Arizona at Bears, Sunday, 3:25 p.m., Dec. 24

Week 17, Atlanta at Bears, Sunday, noon, Dec. 31

Week 18, At  Packers, Jan. 7, TBA

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