Bears announce 2024 schedule with Ferris Bueller spoof
The Bears social media department was at it again Wednesday. The Bears released their 2024 schedule with a video spoofing “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the hit 1986 movie starring Matthew Broderick.
The league released the schedule for all 272 games, including 17 Bears games.
Receiver DJ Moore starred in the Bears’ video mirroring scenes from the movie. Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze made a late appearance stepping out of a school bus. Williams sighs and says, “Freshman year.” Actor Jake Johnson, a Chicago-area native and a big Bears fan, narrated the video.
In recent years NFL teams have been one-upping each other with creative ways to announce their schedule. Teams have come up with some funny ideas that went viral. The Chargers released a two-minute-long anime video in 2022 (which was so popular they did it again in 2023).
In 2023 the Titans asked random people on the streets of Nashville to identify NFL logos with hilarious results. In 2021 the Chiefs dug through old media sessions to find Andy Reid previously saying “we look forward to the challenge of playing” before mentioning all 17 opponents.
Prime-time Bears 2024 games
The NFL is excited about Williams and the Bears. The top draft pick rarely belongs to a team that wasn’t terrible a year ago (the Bears went 7-10). The NFL and its TV partners must love that the top quarterback prospect landed in the league’s largest metro area with only one NFL team.
The Bears will be featured in three prime-time games during the 2024 season, plus a London game and a Thanksgiving Day game that are in TV windows all on their own.
Their prime-time games are a “Sunday Night Football” matchup against the Texans on Sept. 15 (Week 2), an appearance on “Monday Night Football” against the Vikings on Dec. 16 (Week 15), and a “Thursday Night Football” matchup with the Seahawks on Dec. 26 (Week 17).
They’ll face the Jaguars in London on Oct. 13 (Week 6). That game will kick off at 8:30 a.m. local time, meaning Bears fans can wake up early, grab their coffee and flip on the game.
The Bears will make a return to Thanksgiving Day action for the first time since 2021. They’ll take on the Lions on Thanksgiving Day at Ford Field. That game will kick off at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 28 (Week 13).
It’s worth noting, too, that the league is squeezing an extra prime-time game out of the Bears in the preseason when they will participate in the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 1.
Breaking down the schedule
Based on last season’s records, the Bears have one of the easier schedules in 2024. But that means pretty much nothing once the games start in 2024.
Notably, the Bears won’t play an NFC North Division game until they face the Packers on Nov. 17. Six of their final eight games are all within the division.
With the London game taking the place of a home game, the Bears have only one home game at Soldier Field in October. They’ll have a streak of three consecutive home games in mid-November.
The toughest turnarounds will be the two Thursday games. The Bears will have to play the Vikings at Soldier Field and Lions at Ford Field in a span of five days in late November. Later, they’ll take on the Lions and Seahawks with a similar quick turnaround in late December — although the December games are both at home.
For the second consecutive season, the Bears will conclude the season with a Week 18 matchup against Green Bay at Lambeau Field. The dates and times of Week 18 games are to be determined. If both teams are in the playoff hunt, the NFL could make that a prime-time matchup, too.