Two Key Stretches Will Decide The Chicago Bears' 2025 Season

The Chicago Bears' schedule for 2025 is officially out. Experts have rated it the second-toughest in the entire league. Most of that comes from the byproduct of facing three of the toughest divisions in the league. Years like this happen. There isn't much the Bears can do about it. All they could hope for was a fair structure from the schedule makers to navigate it. All things considered, they got what they wanted. Chicago only plays three true primetime games this year. They don't have any glaring road trips to worry about. It's a decent layout outside of a bye week that is earlier than preferred.

That said, it isn't hard to pinpoint where the season will likely be decided. You can always sense where the most challenging hurdles are. In this case, two sections of the schedule will make or break the Bears because of the quality of opponents they face and what division/conference they come from.

The Chicago Bears' upcoming season comes down to two stretches.

Stretch #1: Weeks 1-3

People should never underestimate the importance of how you start a season. The Bears are a perfect example. Every time they've made the playoffs since 2000, they've started the first month worse than 3-1 or better all but one time. This year will be especially important for two reasons. Their first two games will be against the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions, two divisional opponents. Then they face the Dallas Cowboys at home. So their first three games are critical NFC North matchups and then an NFC showdown that is likely to have significant wild card implications.

Stretch #2: Weeks 16-18

Same play, second act. It's rather fitting that the two most important stretches for the Chicago Bears are the start and end of the season. The setup is exactly the same. After hosting Cleveland, they get a rematch against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field. Then it's off to the west coast against a San Francisco 49ers team that will undoubtedly be in the playoff picture. Everybody remembers how they ate the Bears' lunch last year. Lastly, it's a return home to face the Lions in the season finale: two divisional games and an NFC matchup with wild card implications. Sound familiar? If the Bears can navigate these two stretches successfully, they have a good chance of making the playoffs.