Chicago Bears: Full 2019 schedule, plus initial reaction

The Chicago Bears and the rest of the NFL have released their 2019 schedule. Now they will look to improve on the already impressive season they had in 2018.

The Chicago Bears made enormous strides in 2018. Now the defending NFC North Champions will defend their crown in 2019 with a first-place team schedule.

The Bears and the rest of their NFC North rivals will all play each team in both the NFC East and the AFC West. The two extra games will be against the other two first-place NFC teams which were the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams.

By clinching the NFC North last season, their opponents were set. That made it where they will host the Lions, Packers, Vikings, Cowboys, Giants, Chiefs, Chargers and Saints. They will visit the Lions, Packers, Vikings, Eagles, Redskins, Broncos, Raiders, and Rams.

There are a few notable games that might just mean a little more to the players and fans in 2019. Every game is important in terms of making it to the playoffs, but these ones are going to be extra fun.

The Bears will kick off the NFL’s centennial season against its bitter rival in the Green Bay Packers. This game will be the regular season opener on Thursday night, September 5th. Last season the Bears and Packers opened the Sunday Night Football portion of the schedule with a heartbreaking 24-23 loss at Lambeau Field. They then played them again later in the season and clinched the NFC North with a 24-17 victory at Soldier Field.

Another notable game for the Bears this season will be a game played in London on Sunday, October 6th. It will be a night game for the local folks in London but a regularly scheduled noon game for us here in Chicago. It will be the first NFL game played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which hosts the Tottenham Hotspur soccer club of the English Premier League. The stadium just opened and has a capacity similar to that of Soldier Field.

This first place schedule will not be easy to have success with. Having both the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints shouldn’t be easy for the Bears but that’s the challenge that comes with being a good team. Having the AFC West this year is also less than ideal because the Chargers and Chiefs were both elite teams in the AFC last year and look to remain that way in 2019.

In 2018 we went into the year having decent expectations for the division. Aaron Rodgers could make a lackluster Packers team look very good, the Vikings were coming off of a very strong 2017 season and looked to take the next step. Meanwhile, the Lions are always a wild card of expectations. This year the division might not be as good as a whole which is hopefully an advantage for the Bears, playing all of them at home and at their fields.

The full schedule goes:

Week 1: vs Green Bay Packers (Thursday Night Football)

Week 2: @ Denver Broncos

Week 3: @ Washington Redskins (Monday Night Football)

Week 4: vs Minnesota Vikings

Week 5: vs Oakland Raiders (In London)

Week 6: Bye Week

Week 7: vs New Orleans Saints

Week 8: vs Los Angeles Chargers

Week 9: @ Philadelphia Eagles

Week 10:  vs Detroit Lions

Week 11: @ Los Angeles Rams (Sunday Night Football)

Week 12: vs New York Giants

Week 13: @ Detroit Lions (Thanksgiving)

Week 14: vs Dallas Cowboys (Thursday Night Football)

Week 15: @ Green Bay Packers

Week 16: vs Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday Night Football)

Week 17: @ Minnesota Vikings

The hope is that the Bears improve on their 12-4 run through the 2018 schedule and get to where they need to be in the 2019 season. It is an exciting time to be a Bears fan, as we look forward to what appears to be a challenging schedule. Bring it on.