Ranking Chicago Bears 2021 schedule by opponent difficulty

The Chicago Bears need huge plays from big-time players to beat these teams.

8. Pittsburgh Steelers

It is fair to wonder if this is the end for the Pittsburgh Steelers as we know them. They are going to have Mike Tomlin as their head coach for a long time and he will always keep them in the mix. When we say “as we know them”, we mean with Ben Roethlisberger as their starting quarterback. He could be okay and he could be terrible. They started off great in 2020 but then fell off. As a result, they have to be looked at as a mid-tier team in 2021.

7. Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals have a chance to take a big step this year. If they want to pass any of the teams ahead of them, they need Kyler Murray to ball out as a quarterback. The Bears snatched that last playoff spot from them in 2020 so they are going to be looking for revenge. They play in that great NFC West but they are part of the reason it looks like a scary division.

6. Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens were hard to place on this list. Lamar Jackson is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He didn’t win the MVP in 2020 as a repeat winner but he still had a good enough year where the Ravens went 11-5 and returned to the playoffs. They are one of the top-ran organizations in the league so they always should be taken seriously. This is going to be a tough match for the Bears, especially on defense as they try to contain Jackson.