The Chicago Bears' 2025 schedule is out, and there are many takeaways.
One of the biggest takeaways is that the NFL is expecting the Bears to be entertaining this season. As it stands, the Bears have five standalone games during their 2025 season. A clear indicator that the NFL believes that Ben Johnson will have the Bears headed in the right direction.
There is another takeaway from the Bears' schedule that can't be overlooked. The Bears have their bye week early in the season.
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— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 15, 2025
Not an ideal Bye Week for the Chicago Bears
The bye week for the Bears this season falls during Week 5. The trend among most players is that they prefer to have the bye week towards the end of the season, giving them a needed week off after the early grind of the season. Instead, for the Bears, they'll only have four games before their bye during the 2025 season. Ironically, the Bears were coming off a bye week last year when their season became upended after a Week 8 loss to the Washington Commanders. Given the circumstances of that game, there'll be plenty of eyes on the game against the Commanders this season.
If we're being honest, the bye week after the game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday would have been ideal. Given the Bears added time before they play the Green Bay Packers two times over the span of three weeks.
While the Bears having an early bye week can be seen as a disadvantage, there is a hidden benefit. The Bears will only be playing one team this season who is coming off their bye week, and that is the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8. The Ravens have their bye week in Week 7. None of the the NFC North rivals will be coming off their bye week when the Bears play them this season.