It has been almost a month since the NFL released its 2025 schedule. Despite finishing 5-12 in 2024, the Chicago Bears were rewarded with one of the toughest schedules this upcoming season. One of the reasons is that they play in a difficult NFC North, which sent three teams to the playoffs. And chances are that it will happen again in 2025, whether the Bears are in it or not.
Here are early looks at non-NFC North teams the Bears will face, and ranking these games in order from least exciting to must-watch based on these teams' record and their off-season moves.
11. Week 15-Cleveland Browns
The early prognostication of the Browns is not very promising. Like the Bears, they compete in a difficult division in the AFC North and are likely to finish last once again. To make matters worse, they are also trying to determine who their starting quarterback is going to be this upcoming season.
The Browns' head coach, Kevin Stefanski, faces a daunting task of choosing between Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders as a starter, with your job on the line after winning just 3 games last season. Will Stefanski still be coaching the Browns in this game, knowing he will be fired at the end of the season? Or will an interim coach take over mid-season? And what are the odds of Shedeur Sanders being the starting quarterback by then?
Last time these two teams met, the Browns sacked Justin Fields nine times in his pro debut in Cleveland. Remember that? Let's hope this time, the Bears are still in the hunt for a playoff spot and return the favor when they welcome the Browns in late December, which may not be fun to watch in person, given the cold weather.
10. Week 6-New Orleans Saints
The Bears fans might not believe this, but the Saints lead the overall series 18-13. They have won the last seven regular-season games against the Bears. You have to go back to December 11th, 2008, the last time the Bears beat the Saints (27-24 W/OT).
The Saints are a team that is in a transitional period. They fired Dennis Allen, now the Bears' defensive coordinator, after losing 7th straight games following a 2-0 start last season en route to a 5-12 season. They hired Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, fresh off winning the Super Bowl, as their new head coach. But he already faces a monumental task in his first season.
Quarterback David Carr shocked the NFL when he announced his retirement on May 10th after suffering a shoulder injury. A month before, right tackle Ryan Ramczyk announced his retirement after only seven seasons. Like Stefanski, Moore must choose his starting quarterback between the rookie Tyler Shough, Jake Hainer, and Spencer Rattler.
You can bet Allen has already circled this game on his calendar. And whoever is starting at quarterback, Allen's defense must step up, and hopefully, the Bears will put an end to their seven-game winning streak.
9. Week 4-At Las Vegas Raiders
It is no secret that many Bears fans wanted and prayed that Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty would fall to them at No. 10 in this year's draft. Most draft experts had him mocked to the Bears. However, as the draft got closer, that dream became a long shot as many started mocking him to the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 6. And sure enough, they took him. Now, they will face him in Week 4.
Pete Carroll is back coaching in the NFL at the age of 73 and looking to rely on Jeanty to be his Marshawn Lynch. He will be paired with quarterback Geno Smith, who was acquired from Seattle this offseason and is reunited with Carroll after experiencing a career resurgence under him. Let's hope Jeanty will not put up huge numbers against the Bears' defense and make fans wonder how good Jeanty would have been in a Bears uniform.
Another interesting storyline involves head coach Ben Johnson. He was perceived as a front-runner for the Raiders job. But Johnson's camp informed the Raiders that they were not interested in their opening, despite Tom Brady stepping in. Thankfully, he chose the Bears' job. But you can bet that Las Vegas media will be asking Johnson about it leading up to this game.
8. Week 9-New York Giants
I mentioned earlier that Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is on the hot seat. There is a strong case for New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll being on a much hotter seat and giving Stefanski run for his money as to who gets fired first.
You think the Bears have a tough schedule in 2025? The Giants have the toughest schedule in 2025, with their opponents combined for a .574 winning percentage in 2024. If you look at their schedule, they begin with NFC East rivals Dallas and Washington on the road, followed by two AFC West opponents at home, Kansas City and Los Angeles Chargers. 0-4 start is not out of the question.
The only winnable game on their schedule is the Week 5 matchup against the New Orleans Saints. The Saints are a team that is starting over under new head coach Kellen Moore, and it could be a matchup between the two worst teams in the NFL when they meet.
If the Giants can't beat the Saints and fall 1-4 or 0-5, the knives will be out in full force from restless fans and the media, demanding that Daboll be fired or bench Russell Wilson in favor of the rookie Jaxson Dart. When the Bears face the Giants, they could have an interim coach, and Dart could be thrown into action, whether he is ready or not.
7. Week 17-At San Francisco 49ers
Last season, the Bears were destroyed by the 49ers 38-13 in Thomas Brown's debut as an interim head coach. Even with the firing of Matt Eberflus the day after the Thanksgiving game and with more than a week to prepare, Brown completely torpedoed his opportunity for a Bears head coach audition with an embarrassing loss.
The San Francisco 49ers are looking to rebound from a rough 2024 season, in which they were decimated by injuries. Following a 5-4 start, they lost 7 of their last 8 games, with their only win coming against the Bears en route to a 6-11 season. Was last season an aberration, or has their playoff window closed?
Historically, the Bears have struggled against the 49ers during the regular season, and for the most part, neither team has faced each other when they were both good, except a few times in the 80s. It is weird for the Bears to travel to the West Coast this late in the season. But the NFL and NBC, which will broadcast this game as the final Sunday Night Football game of 2025, are gambling that this game will have a playoff spot on the line for both teams.
6. Week 8-At Cincinnati Bengals
Caleb Williams will face another former No. 1 overall pick in Joe Burrow on the road. Burrow has transformed the Bengals by taking them to the Super Bowl in his second season, where they came close to winning Super Bowl LVI over three years ago. He is the face of the franchise and will be the greatest player in franchise history when he retires. The Bears are hoping Williams will have a similar impact on the Bears, not only this season, but for years to come.
The Bengals boast the best wide receiver tandem in the league in JaMarr Chase and Tee Higgins. Both Higgins and Chase signed a massive extension deal to stay in Cincinnati when it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Higgins was leaving this off-season. The Bears' secondary will face a massive challenge in defending both receivers the entire game in what could be a high-scoring game.
But resigning Higgins may come at a cost of potentially losing star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. He is in a bitter contract dispute as he is seeking a new deal, whether it is with the Bengals or someone else. And so far, neither side has budged. The Bears better hope he is no longer with the Bengals when they face the Bengals, as he will pose a huge challenge for whoever is at left tackle for the Bears.
5. Week 11-Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers had moved on from both Russell Wilson and ex-Bear Justin Fields at quarterback this offseason and were begging for Aaron Rodgers to sign with them. Rodgers finally signed with them after weeks of waiting, which is why I moved this game. Seriously, did anyone think Mason Rudolph was going to start for them?
After two frustrating years with the New York Jets, Rodgers will get a new start with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have not adequately replaced Ben Roethlisberger since his retirement. They are gambling on Rodgers, in what could be his final season in the NFL, to help them make a deep postseason run one more time. They better hope it works because if this fails badly, head coach Mike Tomlin might get fired.
For Bears fans, Rodgers might be declining, but he is the guy who has owned the Bears' numbers his entire career when he was with Green Bay. Let's hope he is healthy enough to play and provide soundbites about how he still owns the Bears, offering plenty of motivation. It would be nice to see him taken down one last time, similar to when Corey Wootton's sack ended Brett Favre's career.
4. Week 7-At Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a model of consistency that the Bears can only hope to achieve someday. John Harbaugh has coached them since 2008, winning Super Bowl XLVII, and has only two losing seasons (5-11 in 2015 and 8-9 in 2021) in his entire career.
The biggest reason for their consistent success is that they have drafted well under general managers Ozzie Newsome and Eric DeCosta, who took over following Newsome's retirement.
They have drafted Lamar Jackson, Nnamdi Maubuike, Marlon Humphrey, and Kyle Hamilton in recent years. And if you go even further back, they have drafted Hall of Famers like Jonathan Ogden, Rey Lewis, Ed Reed, and future inductees in Terrell Suggs and Marshall Yanda, who have set the standard high and helped build a strong culture that is still being upheld today. Since 2000, they have made the playoffs 16 times and won two Super Bowl titles (XXXV and XLVII).
The last time these two teams faced each other in 2021, Lamar Jackson was out with an injury. Barring any significant injury, the Bears will face Jackson for the first time, who has become a much better passer in recent years under the guidance of offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who was a finalist for the Bears' head coach vacancy. And he is going to be a handful along with running back Derrick Henry, who rushed for 1,921 yards last season at 30 years old.
This game will be a good measuring stick of the progress the Bears have made so far against a legitimate Super Bowl contender on the road.
3. Week 13-At Philadelphia Eagles
The Bears face the NFC East this year, which means they will face the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. The NFL did not do the Bears any favors by scheduling this game on Black Friday, when the whole country is tuned in.
Once again, the Eagles are a Super Bowl contender entering this season despite losing several key players to free agency. Like the Ravens, the Eagles have drafted very well under general manager Howie Roseman. Roseman's philosophy in building through the trenches is well proven. The best example is replacing center Jason Kelce after his retirement with Cam Jurgens without missing a beat.
The Bears' defense will face a huge challenge of stopping running back Saquon Barkley, coming off a 2,000-yard season. It will be interesting to see if he will still be able to replicate his success this season as he gets older. Of course, the Eagles are more than just Saquon Barkley. They must limit both AJ Brown and Devonta Smith and disrupt Jalen Hurts all game.
The Bears will play multiple road games against several playoff and Super Bowl contenders, which should help them prepare both physically and mentally before playing the Eagles. The Bears will find out if they have closed the gap between themselves and the Eagles or if the sizable gap still exists.
2. Week 3-Dallas Cowboys
I could have ranked the Black Friday game against the Eagles here. But this is a game in which former embattled Bears head coach Matt Eberflus makes his return to Chicago as the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys. Since this game will be "America's Game Of The Week" on Fox Sports, the Eberflus storyline will likely be brought up a million times.
You can imagine Eberflus and some of the Bears players will downplay the significance of this game. But many fans will not forget what a disaster of a head coach he was. Ultimately, the Bears were able to land Ben Johnson as their new head coach, which would not have been possible had the Bears won several more games last season under Eberflus, giving false hope that the team was turning things around.
Ben Johnson is also going up against another first-time head coach in Brian Schottenheimer, a son of the late Marty Schottenheimer. Schottenheimer better hope his defense can slow down the Bears' offense. However, Johnson is 5-1 against Eberflus in the last three years. It will be interesting to see if Johnson, now as the head coach, can still outsmart Eberflus.
1. Week 5-At Washington Commanders
Every Bears fan could have predicted that the NFL was going to schedule this matchup for a prime time slot. The NFL chose the Week 5 Sunday Night Football between these two teams.
This game needs no explanation. We all know what happened. The game completely changed the trajectory of both teams. Washington, with rookie Jayden Daniels, went all the way to the NFC Championship game while the Bears crumbled and bickered their way to a 10-game losing streak, which led to the firing of head coach Matt Eberflus mid-season.
The Washington Commanders, after decades of embarrassment under Dan Snyder, are ascending under new ownership, and Daniels. Meanwhile, the Bears are hoping that Ben Johnson can achieve similar success with Caleb Williams this season.
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You know NBC will endlessly play the clip of cornerback Tyrique Stevenson not paying attention and his tipped ball gets caught for a touchdown leading into the game, which may trigger PTSD for many Bears fans. They might even do a pregame segment on how much that game impacted many fans and everyone on the team, including Stevenson.
Still, this game is more than just the Hail Mary loss and Tyrique Stevenson seeking redemption. Williams vs Daniels could become the NFC version of Manning vs Brady. Williams must step up his game against Daniels and win to be taken seriously. Meanwhile, Johnson is thinking about avenging the NFC Divisional Playoff loss against Dan Quinn's Commanders in Detroit that derailed the Lions' Super Bowl hopes.