Chicago Bears rumored to play the AFC South over the first four games of the season

As the NFL plans to release the 2020 schedule tomorrow, it has been noted the first four games are planned to be AFC vs. NFC. Therefore the Chicago Bears will face off against the AFC South between Weeks 1 and 4.

The Chicago Bears will release the official 2020 schedule tomorrow. However, thanks to rumors floating around we can share that the first four games of the season should all be against the AFC South. John Clayton announced that the first four games of the season will all be NFC vs. AFC opponents. This means that the Chicago Bears will face off against the Jaguars, Colts, Texans and Titans over the first four weeks of the 2020 season.

We will have to wait until tomorrow to see how things fall, but the NFL is clearly putting this plan in place to have the option to cancel the first four games of the season and limit the implications it has on the season. Even if games do happen, what if there are no fans in attendance or the stadium is at a limited fan capacity? This will allow teams to get acclimated to change.

Looking at the Bears opponents, we already know that the Colts and Texans will be home games. The Jaguars and Titans will be away games. Both Houston and Tennessee made the playoffs last season. The Texans had the best record in the division at 10-6 and the Titans finished 9-7.

The Texans have a very different looking team though. Instead of DeAndre Hopkins to worry about, the Bears will have to focus their attention to Brandin Cooks. The Texans also added David Johnson to their backfield in the swap trade involving Hopkins. Needless to say, this will be a different Texans team. It might be good to have to face them to open the season as the players will struggle to get acclimated to one another.

The Titans are a very similar team to the one who ended the season. They lost their starting right tackle in Jack Conklin, which could be a significant blow and good news for a pass rushing  team like the Chicago Bears. Hopefully it also hinders their power running attack with Derrick Henry.

The Jaguars game will be interesting if Nick Foles is the starter. Can we say Foles revenge game? Although I am hoping Mitchell Trubisky proves everyone wrong, the Foles narrative would be more fun for this game. Honestly, either way, this game does not scare me too much. The Jaguars seem to be a mess and I am not a Gardner Minshew believer.

Finally, the last team the Bears should see over this opening four-week span is the Indianapolis Colts. This team went 7-9 with Jacoby Brisett at quarterback. I am not a fan of Philip Rivers personal protection issues, but I do think he succeeds with this Colts protection. The Colts have one of the best offensive lines whereas the Chargers found themselves towards the bottom in the league. Rivers will be a formidable foe for this Bears defense.

Overall, I am predicting the Bears come away 2-2 if the NFL is able to play all four games to start the year. I would be okay with a start like this especially regarding games that matter less in the grand scheme of things. If the team can come away 3-1 or 4-0 I would be ecstatic. A 1-3 start would not be good and an 0-4 start would mean the Bears prove Mike Clay right and find themselves last in the division and looking at a top-10 draft pick in 2021.