Mark your calendars Bears fans – the Preseason schedule has been released. While the exact dates aren’t finalized, but we know who, where and approximately when the games will be played. Check it out:
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.