Aug 24, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Chicago Bears helmets during the second half against the New York Giants at Metlife Stadium. The Bears won the game 20-17 Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bears schedule has been released.  Even though we’ve known the opponents, now that we have the dates and order of the opponents, it just makes football season feel a lot more real.  Let’s make some absurdly early predictions for the upcoming season.

Week 1: Cincinnati Bengals vs Chicago Bears

Andy Dalton and the Bengals will visit Soldier Field to open the Marc Trestman era of Chicago Bears football.  The Bears start the season at home yet again, and they’ve had really good success starting the season at home. Trestman’s high octane offense surprises Marvin Lewis’ Bengals and the Bears send the Soldier Field faithful home happy.

Bears 34, Bengals 24  (more…)

The Chicago Bears come off their Week 6 bye in sole possession of first place in the NFC North, boasting an NFC second best 4-1 record.  Can the Bears keep their #2 seed down the stretch?  What does the back end of their schedule look like?  We previewed all 16 games before the season started, but a lot has changed over the first few weeks in our perception of the Bears and their opponents.  Let’s preview their remaining games and see how we think the Bears will finish up the season. (more…)

Tom Brady signals that game time is moving to 3:15.

In the wake of their surprising 31-26 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the Bears are quickly becoming Must See TV.  The December 12th game against the New England Patriots has been flexed to a 3:15 Central kickoff.

The Bears are no longer flying under the radar nationally.  At 8-3, they’re are firmly entrenched in the NFC playoff discussion, sitting atop the NFC North a full game lead over the Green Bay Packers.   Speaking of the Packers, that is the only remaining game on the schedule that could be flexed.  (more…)

The NFL has announced today that the game time for the Week 12 matchup between the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field will be flexed.  The game, originally scheduled for 12:00pm CST on November 28, has been moved to 3:15pm CST.  This comes after the Bears big win against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday and the record-breaking performance by Michael Vick and the Eagles on Monday night, both wins moving the teams into a tie for first place in their respective divisions.

While both teams currently stand at 6-3, most people will probably heavily favor the Eagles.  The Bears do have a few things going their way.  They will be coming off an extended break after playing on Thursday night this week and the Eagles will be coming off a slightly shorter than normal week after playing on Sunday night against the New York Giants.  Either way, the NFL sees this as a game worth watching.  I’ll be hoping that intangibles play a factor and give the Bears an edge.  It could be a cold, sloppy snow bowl at Soldier field.

Flex Note: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Baltimore Ravens game was also flexed to 3:15pm CST on November 28th.  The changes were announced today because the NFL must announce flex scheduling changes at least 12 days prior to the game.

August 12-15 @ Chargers

The Bears will head to San Diego to face former teammate Nathan Vasher, who just signed a deal to rejoin former DC Bears Ron Rivera and the Chargers.  Jay Cutler should get a warm welcome from his former AFC West rivals and his buddy Phillip Rivers.  It will be weird to be in San Diego and not see LT donning the lightening bolts.

August 19-22 Raiders

Julius Peppers will make his Soldier Field debut against the Silver and Black as the Raiders roll into town.  The big question for me is whether he’ll be chasing down Donovan McNabb Jamarcus Russell or someone else for the enigmatic Raiders.  This is another team that Cutler knows well from his Broncos days, so it should be interesting.

August 26 – 29 Cardinals

The Cardinals roll into Soldier Field for the all-important 3rd preseason game.   Without Kurt Warner or Anquan Boldin, the Arizona offense will definitely take on a new look and all of this while the defense suffered losses of their own.  I think it will be a down year for the Cards and no better place to start it than right here at Soldier Field.  The starters play into the third quarter, so this is a great one to go to Soldier Field to check out.

September 2 – 5 @ Browns

For some unknown reason, the Bears have some longstanding tradition of playing the Browns in the preseason. Why?  Beats me, but they’ll face off with the new-look Browns to close out the practice schedule.  This is a throwaway game that will feature Jerry Angelo’s busts, I mean draft picks, battling for the last few spots on the roster.

There are rumors circulating that the NFL will release the full schedule on April 13th, so stay tuned.

Sept. 13 at Green Bay, 7:20 p.m., NBC

How better to open the Jay Cutler era than in Prime Time at Lambeau?  In 10 years, we hope to see the stat of how many quarterbacks the Packers have used since Jay Cutler joined the Bears!  Huge start the season on the right foot.  W

Sept. 20 PITTSBURGH, 3:15 p.m., CBS

The defending champs saunter into Soldier Field for the home opener way too cocky and fail to realize these are not the old Chicago Bears.  Roethlisberger?  Who needs ‘em when you’ve got Cutler?  W

Sept. 27 at Seattle, 3:05 p.m., FOX

The Seahawks are always tough at home with the “12^thMan” and all that crap, but the last time the Bears rolled into town, their backfield was Benson and Grossman – now we have Forte and Cutler.  W

Oct. 4 DETROIT, noon, FOX

This game may have sealed Kyle Orton’s fate in Chicago.  Old Neckbeard was having a decent season last year ’til he was injured late in the first half.  Even after he came back from his injury, he never regained his early-season form.  But hey, now we’ve got Cutler.  Big W (more…)