Chicago Bears: Four takeaways from the NFL’s schedule release

Chicago Bears (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Chicago Bears (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) /
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David Montgomery, Anthony Miller, Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Hours ago, the NFL officially released the Chicago Bears’ 2020 schedule. Here are four quick thoughts and observations.

The race towards the 16-0 season can officially begin. Just moments ago, the NFL officially released the Chicago Bears’ full 16-game schedule, beginning with a Sept. 13th matchup in Detroit.

670 The Score co-host Danny Parkins did some heavy lifting, providing us with a few marquee matchups ahead of the official schedule release, but the full schedule is here as follows:

  • — Week 1: at Lions (9/13, 12:00pm)
  • — Week 2: vs. Giants (9/20, 12:00pm)
  • — Week 3: at Falcons (9/27, 12:00pm)
  • — Week 4: vs. Colts (10/4, 12:00pm)
  • — Week 5: vs. Buccaneers (10/8, 7:20, TNF)
  • — Week 6: at Panthers (10/18, 12:00pm)
  • — Week 7: at Rams (10/26, 7:15pm, MNF)
  • — Week 8: vs. Saints (11/1, 3:25pm)
  • — Week 9: at Titans (11/8, 12:00pm)
  • — Week 10: vs. Vikings (11/16, 7:15pm, MNF)
  • — Week 11: Bye Week
  • — Week 12: at Packers (11/29, 7:20pm, NBC)
  • — Week 13: vs. Lions (12/6, 12:00pm)
  • — Week 14: vs. Texans (12/13, 12:00pm)
  • — Week 15: at Vikings (12/20, 12:00pm)
  • — Week 16: at Jaguars (12/27, 12:00pm)
  • — Week 17: vs. Packers (1/3, 12:00pm)

As a whole, the Bears are playing the 13th most difficult schedule — teams that had a combined record of 129-125-2 in 2019. That’s somewhat inspiring, considering two teams in the NFC North — the Lions and Vikings — play the sixth and 10th most difficult schedule respectively.

Because of the parity within the NFC North and the conference as a whole, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to see the Bears having some real success this season. Much more successful than you’d expect from a team that experts are ranking No. 31 out of 32 teams this year. For instance, Vegas projects just a few 10-win teams this season, and out of 16 games, the Bears only play one of them in New Orleans.

But, these are just a few of the minor thoughts to take away from the official schedule release. Here are four additional things worth thinking about.