The Chicago Bears preseason schedule has been announced.
The Chicago Bears know their first five opponents of the season.
We already know that the Chicago Bears will kick off the regular season at home against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday September 5th.
Today the Chicago Bears also announced their four preseason games coming up in August.
https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1115702527142453248
The NFL hasn’t announced specific dates and times for each game yet, only date ranges and who is home and away.
The Bears will kick off the preseason campaign at home against the Carolina Panthers. After that, they hit the road for a “two-game road trip.” They’ll square off against the New York Giants in week two followed by a road game against the Colts in Indianapolis. They will wrap up the preseason with a home game against the Tennessee Titans.
An interesting tidbit to the preseason schedule comes from the Chicago Tribune’s Rich Campbell who also notes about potential joint practices with the Giants.
Bears announce preseason opponents (Dates & times TBA)
— Rich Campbell (@Rich_Campbell) April 9, 2019
W1: vs. Panthers
W2: at Giants
W3: at Colts
W4: vs. Titans
...We'll see if Bears can pin down joint practices at the Giants, which is their preference.
The Bears have done joint practices frequently over the last couple of seasons and would like to continue that this year prior to their game with the Giants. The Giants did them last year with the Detroit Lions so this would be something the Giants could be open to doing.
What’s surprising about the Bears’ preseason schedule is what Adam Schefter tweeted out. Schefter had the national television schedule for the NFL’s preseason game and none of the Bears’ games were selected for national games.
NFL announced its 65-game preseason schedule, which includes eight nationally televised games. pic.twitter.com/HH0VgFa9f4
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 9, 2019
The Bears are a ratings magnet. Networks love having them in primetime. It’s surprising that their game against the Giants or Colts didn’t make the national slate. Especially when you see the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Miami Dolphins in preseason week three.
It’s still possible that the Bears will have one or two of their games on NFL Network, but for now, Chicago fans will have to accept that their games will be on locally in Chicago and for those that live outside of the home market will have to find them streaming on NFL.Com.