Chicago Bears mock schedule: Our wish list for maximum theater in 2026

Posted May 06, 2026 11:12 am

By Dan Wiederer

We’re back, baby! Right here at the corner of Hype and Anticipation.

The NFL schedule for 2026 will launch sometime in the next two weeks. This has prompted us to offer a sneak peek of what could be ahead for the Chicago Bears. To be clear, our mock schedule isn’t an exercise to predict the Bears’ itinerary. It’s more of an early-May submission to the NFL suggestion box, an attempt to piece together the most compelling Bears schedule possible.

Consider this a wish list more than a projection, an opportunity to skillfully position rivalry contests and showcase games while leaning into potential theater.

Without further delay …

Week 1: at Bills (Sunday, Sept. 13, “Sunday Night Football”)

There is amplifying chatter about the Bears possibly being selected for the NFL’s Kickoff Game on Sept. 9 — a Wednesday night against the Super Bowl champion Seahawks. We’ll find out soon how real that is. But we’re steering in a different direction.

Sure, there was a strong temptation to put a rivalry clash against Green Bay here — or as coach Ben Johnson calls it, the “F — the Packers!” Bowl. But last season offered a better blueprint. Save those games for later in the season when the stakes are elevated and the drama quotient is higher.

The next best thing? The Bears are the invitees for the grand opening of New Highmark Stadium. Caleb Williams vs. Josh Allen. A reunion with DJ Moore. An intriguing clash of teams with Super Bowl aspirations in front of a revved-up Buffalo crowd. Cue Carrie Underwood.

Week 2: vs. Jets (Sunday, Sept. 20)

The Bears’ home opener is another AFC East tilt, presenting a chess match between Johnson and Aaron Glenn, who coached together for four seasons in Detroit. New York is attempting to reboot with 35-year-old quarterback Geno Smith, whose first go-around with the organization (2013-16) wasn’t exactly glowing. The Jets also added three first-round picks last month in edge rusher David Bailey, tight end Kenyon Sadiq and receiver Omar Cooper Jr.

Week 3: at Lions (Sunday, Sept. 27)

Chicago’s first division game of the season requires a return to Ford Field, the site of a 52-21 embarrassment in Week 2 of 2025 — which somehow was less humiliating than the previous season’s Thanksgiving Day faceplant in Detroit. The Lions swept the season series with a 19-16 victory at Soldier Field in January, leaving the Bears with a 2-4 NFC North record they’ll need to improve on.

Week 4: vs. Saints (Sunday, Oct. 4)

In maybe the least suspenseful Bears victory of 2025, running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai combined for 205 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Bears led 20-0 in the second quarter, held off a Saints surge and recorded three of their league-best 23 interceptions in coasting to a 26-14 win.

Reunion footnote: New Orleans defensive coordinator Brandon Staley was a Bears assistant for two seasons (2017-18) under then-coordinator Vic Fangio.

Week 5: at Seahawks (Monday, Oct. 12)

We’ll still get Bears-Seahawks in prime time, but on the Monday night stage and after both teams have had a month of football to find their footing. The teams’ last meeting was a painful and all-too-forgettable 6-3 Seattle win on the day after Christmas in 2024. Soldier Field felt like a morgue that night. The buzz at Lumen Field for this one ought to be far more electric.

Week 6: vs. Vikings (Sunday, Oct. 18)

The Bears will play 12 games this season against teams that finished above .500 in 2025. That includes two with Minnesota, which used three starting quarterbacks last season (J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer), which somehow overcame a 4-8 start with a five-game winning streak to end the season. Kyler Murray arrives now and has a one-season, $1.3 million deal to prove he can become the Vikings’ QB1 and resurrect his career under coach Kevin O’Connell.

Week 7: Open date

The Bears loved the placement of their Week 5 bye last season, well-timed as they were working to identify their, well, identity. The 2026 open date comes a couple of weeks later.

Week 8: vs. Patriots (Sunday, Nov. 1, “Sunday Night Football”)

The first episode of Caleb Williams vs. Drake Maye feels like it was eons ago, back in Week 10 of 2024, the rookie season for both quarterbacks. At the time, Maye and the Patriots were a mess, a 2-7 team that came into Soldier Field stumbling but somehow sneaked away with a far-too-easy 19-3 win. Williams and the Bears were a disaster that day, managing only one scoring drive and 142 total yards on 11 possessions. That led to the dismissal of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron a couple of days later — after just nine games. The Bears’ loss was their third of 10 consecutive defeats during one of the most embarrassing stretches in franchise history.

This time around, they should be in a far better place and will have extra time to prepare for a showcase game against the reigning AFC champs.

Week 9: at Panthers (Sunday, Nov. 8)

Have you heard this story yet? With the first pick in the 2023 NFL draft, the Carolina Panthers — with the No. 1 pick they obtained in a trade from the Bears — selected Bryce Young, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Alabama. With the first pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the Bears — with the No. 1 pick that came back to them in the same deal with Carolina — selected Caleb Williams, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from USC. After rocky rookie seasons, both quarterbacks have since found steadiness and success and hope to keep producing strong returns on investment for their respective franchises.

Week 10: vs. Buccaneers (Sunday, Nov. 15)

Tampa Bay fell apart last season, losing seven of eight between Halloween and New Year’s Eve and letting the NFC South title slip away. Quarterback Baker Mayfield, a legitimate MVP candidate at the season’s midpoint, threw nine interceptions and posted an 83.2 passer rating over the back half of the season.

Week 11: vs. Eagles (Sunday, Nov. 22)

In one of last season’s most surprising games — both in the result and in its form — the Bears ran the ball down Philadelphia’s throat on Black Friday, amassing 281 rushing yards in what became a convincing trampling of the then-Super Bowl champs. That, of course, prompted Johnson’s bare-chested “Good, Better, Best” postgame sermon. Among the Eagles’ most significant newcomers for 2026: rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon and veteran pass rusher Jonathan Greenard.

Week 12: at Packers (Thursday, Nov. 26)

Yes, Chicago. You might have to wait this long for the first Green Bay game. But imagine the anticipation that will build — similar to last season when the Bears and Packers met for the first time in Week 14. This time, the trip to Lambeau Field comes on Thanksgiving night. Prime time.

The renewed acrimony between these teams is a wonderful sign that the competitive health of the rivalry is returning. It also doesn’t hurt that Johnson and Packers coach Matt LaFleur aren’t exactly chums and have no difficulty showing as much. Come for a potential high-stakes NFC North clash. Stay for the postgame handshake.

Week 13: at Vikings (Thursday, Dec. 3)

A Prime Video cameo for the Bears the week after Thanksgiving. Minnesota made one of the more head-turning picks of the first round last month, selecting defensive tackle Caleb Banks at No. 18 with hopes that his history of foot injuries won’t follow him through his NFL career. That was a bit of a pivot point in Round 1 with safety Dillon Thieneman — widely thought of as a potential Vikings target — slipping to the Bears at No. 25. The Bears were thrilled with that outcome and see Thieneman as a top-end playmaker who can be a standout starter deep into the 2030s.

Week 14: vs. Jaguars (Sunday, Dec. 13)

Liam Coen finished second to Mike Vrabel in Coach of the Year voting last season after igniting a nine-win turnaround for Jacksonville, which went 13-4 but lost to Buffalo in the wild-card round of the AFC playoffs. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence topped 4,000 passing yards for the third time in his career and threw a career-high 29 touchdown passes.

Week 15: at Dolphins (Saturday, Dec. 19)

Maybe this is just a Chicago-based beat writer’s subconscious desire — a December escape from winter with this trip to South Florida. The Dolphins, under first-year head coach Jeff Hatley, figure to be a bit of a wreck in 2026. From a distance, this sure seems set up as a take-care-of-business opportunity for the Bears’ stretch run.

Week 16: vs. Lions (Friday, Dec. 25)

If this comes to fruition, the Bears will be home for Christmas. But unwrap those presents early. As part of the league’s holiday tripleheader, the Bears and Lions will get the 3:30 p.m. kickoff on the lakefront. In an ideal world, the NFC North race will be heating up. After winning only nine times in Chicago across the 1980s, ’90s and 2000s combined, Detroit is 8-5 at Soldier Field in the post-Lovie Smith era.

Week 17: at Falcons (Sunday, Jan. 3)

Won if by land? Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson led the NFL last season in yards from scrimmage, totaling 2,298 to go along with his 11 touchdowns. The Bears, meanwhile, had the NFC’s most productive rushing attack with 2,456 yards, including three games with more than 200.

Week 18: vs. Packers (Sunday, Jan. 10)

Since the NFL made the switch in 2010 to where all regular-season finale games are intra-division affairs, the Bears and Packers have closed out the year against one another five times. The Bears are 1-4 in such games — the lone win coming under interim coach Thomas Brown and snapping that 10-game 2024 skid. Here’s hoping something significant is in play, ideally for both teams as playoff positioning crystallizes.