5. @ Philadelphia – Week 9
This is the third game of a brutal three-game stretch for the Bears. They play home games against the Saints and Chargers before traveling to Philadelphia to try and gain some revenge for their playoff defeat last year. Carson Wentz has had trouble staying healthy the past two years, but this year he does not have Nick Foles backing him up. If Wentz’s is healthy this could be one of the best games of the year. The Eagles faithful will definitely be ready to hound the Bears as it is always tough playing in Philadelphia. The Bears will obviously be trying to forget how they lost their playoff game and will have a new kicker, they just hope it doesn’t have to come down to a last-second kick again this year.
4. vs New Orleans – Week 7
The Bears host the Saints a week after their bye in what should be a great game. The Saints were one of the worst calls in NFL history away from making the Super Bowl last year and should be good again this year. They finally had a very good defense to back Drew Brees and the Saints offense. The Bears will have their hands full stopping Brees and company. This is one of a bunch of matchups were their defense will be tested. If they continue playing like they did last year they should be able to keep them in games even against the best offenses. This seems to be the first game that Mitch Tribusky and the rest of the Bears offense will really have to show up to win the game. The games before the bye are against offenses ranked in the bottom half of the league last year. Taking care of the ball and keeping the Saints offense off the field will be a big goal for the Bears. If they can do that they can win these types of games. This will be a good test to see what type of team the Bears have this year.
3. @ Los Angeles Rams – Week 11
Until the Super Bowl, the Bears were the first team to really hold the Rams offense in check when they visited Soldier Field on a very cold Sunday night at the end of last season. The Bears will try and show that wasn’t a fluke as they travel to Los Angeles in a game that will no doubt be warmer. Jared Goff came back down to Earth a little bit last year but still had a great year. The Bears did a great job pressuring him into mistakes and will look to do the same again this year. This could be an NFC Championship preview (the Saints could be also) and is already scheduled for Sunday night football. This game again has the potential to be one of the best games of the year and could be for home-field advantage in the NFC.