The NFL released the 2019 schedule today for all 32 teams, though the many leaks on Twitter throughout the day diminished some of the buzz for the two-hour, prime time event.
The Chicago Bears' home and away opponents have been known since the 2018 season ended. Apart from two games against each of their divisional foes, they play the NFC East, AFC West, and the first place finishers in the other NFC divisions. It was just a matter of when and in what order would those games take place.
Well, we got an early look thanks to @TheBearsReport:
That's quite the schedule. I have some way-too-early thoughts on this (pre-draft, pre-training camp, etc), and lots can change between now and the preseason and even Week 1.
Still, I've shared them below. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation!
1 -- Here's my first thought:
2 -- In general, the Bears have five prime time games, a game on Thanksgiving, and a game in London. That's at least seven nationally televised games. Couple that with the Week 2 game in Denver, Week 4 game against Minnesota, and Week 7 game against New Orleans likely to be the nationally televised late afternoon games, and the Bears could have 10 nationally televised games in 2019. TEN. That's not a typo.
It's remarkable how far the Bears have come. The NFL and networks absolutely love it, and profit, when the Bears are good.
3 -- The BYE week comes right after their Week 5 trip to London to take on the Raiders. It's an obvious choice given the travel requirement across the pond, but I do wish the BYE week was a bit later in the schedule. The Bears had a very early off-week last year and they were fortunate to have pretty good health throughout the year. They'll just have to do the best they can to manage injuries later in the year.
4 -- Ending the year by playing Week 17 in Minnesota AGAIN. Boring. Hopefully, there isn't a lot riding on that game at U.S. Bank Stadium. And by that, I mean the Bears have their playoff spot (read: NFC North) wrapped up well before then.
5 -- The Bears' last 10 games of the year all alternate between home and away. There are no consecutive home or away games for those remaining 10 weeks. That's a very interesting scheduling quirk.
6 -- Hosting New Orleans in October rather than December is not ideal. But the Bears do host Dallas in December, hopefully "Bear Weather" can provide some home field advantage for the Cowboys' game. And for the Saints' game, I'll take a steady downpour all afternoon. Why not?
7 -- The three week stretch in Weeks 7-9 coming out of the BYE is ROUGH. Two of those games are at home, but New Orleans, LA Chargers, and Philadelphia is a rough stretch. Chicago better hope they take care of business relatively well before the BYE. At a minimum, they better be 3-2, if not 4-1 (or 5-0). A guy can dream, can't he?
8 -- My way-too-early prediction:
- Week 1 vs. GB -- W
- Week 2 @ DEN -- L
- Week 3 @ WAS -- W
- Week 4 vs. MIN -- W
- Week 5 @ OAK (London) -- W
- Week 6 BYE
- Week 7 vs. NO -- W
- Week 8 vs. LAC -- L
- Week 9 @ PHI -- L
- Week 10 vs. DET -- W
- Week 11 @ LAR -- L
- Week 12 vs. NYG -- W
- Week 13 @ DET (Thanksgiving) -- L
- Week 14 vs. DAL -- W
- Week 15 @ GB -- L
- Week 16 vs. KC -- W
- Week 17 @ MIN -- W
Final 2019 Record: 10-6
9 -- I can't wait.
Follow the author @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
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