Facing the NFL’s toughest strength of schedule and five primetime games, Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears must overcome historical odds to lead Ben Johnson’s squad back to the postseason.
With the Chicago Bears' 2026 schedule officially in place, it's time to predict how Ben Johnson's team will perform this season.
Johnson's Bears will play five primetime games and has holiday matchups scheduled against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving and the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day.
Oh, and the Bears will face the hardest strength of schedule this season, which is based on their opponents' 2025 records.
Despite the team winning 11 games last season, the Bears will face eight playoff teams from a season ago, raising the difficulty for Chicago to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, will face five former No. 1 overall picks in his third season in the NFL: Jared Goff (2016), Baker Mayfield (2018), Kyler Murray (2019), Trevor Lawrence (2021) and Bryce Young (2023).
According to ESPN's Courtney Cronin, "the 2016 Falcons are the last team to win a playoff game the season in which they started with the league's toughest strength of schedule. Only three of the past 10 teams to navigate the NFL's hardest schedule made it to the postseason, including the 2023 Eagles and 2021 Steelers. Both lost in the wild-card round."
History isn't on Chicago's side, but if this team is truly different from previous Bears teams of the past, they will find a way to shatter those old narratives on the path towards another year that features postseason football in January.
Most sportsbooks have the Bears' win total listed at 9.5.
With the schedule set and all the challenges presented, here is my record prediction for the Bears in 2026.
- WK 1: Sept. 13 @ Carolina Panthers 1 ET -- W
- WK 2: Sept. 20 vs. Minnesota Vikings 1 ET -- W
- WK 3: Sept. 28 vs. Philadelphia Eagles (MNF) 8:15 ET -- L
- WK 4: Oct. 4 vs. New York Jets 1 ET -- W
- WK 5: Oct. 11 @ Green Bay Packers 4:24 ET -- W
- WK 6: Oct. 18 @ Atlanta Falcons 1 ET -- W
- WK 7: Oct. 22 vs. New England Patriots (TNF) 8:15 ET -- W
- WK 8: Nov. 2 @ Seattle Seahawks (MNF) 8:15 ET -- L
- WK 9: Nov. 8 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (SNF) 8:20 ET -- W
- WK 10: Bye week
- WK 11: Nov. 22 vs. New Orleans Saints 1 ET -- W
- WK 12: Nov. 26 @ Detroit Lions (Thanskgiving) 12:30 ET -- W
- WK 13: Dec. 6 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars 1 ET -- L
- WK 14: Dec. 13 @ Miami Dolphins 1 ET -- W
- WK 15: Dec. 19 @ Buffalo Bills (Saturday) 8:20 ET -- L
- WK 16: Dec. 25 vs. Green Bay Packers (Christmas) 1 ET -- W
- WK 17: Jan. 3 vs. Detroit Lions 4:25 ET -- L
- WK 18: Jan. 10 @ Minnesota Vikings 1 ET -- W
RECORD: 12-5
A few observations from my 2026 Bears' record prediction. I have the Bears going 5-1 in the NFC North, improving from the team's 2-4 performance in the division last season. Johnson's team also avoid two consecutive losses all year. In 2025, the Bears started the season on a two-game losing streak and ended the year the same way.
With nine home games at Soldier Field, I'm predicting the Bears to lose three of those contests -- one more than last season.
Against teams that made the playoffs last season, Chicago finishes 4-4 in those games.
As we get closer to the regular season, it will be a fun exercise to revist the 2026 schedule to see if this prediction changes.
Let me know what you think of my record prediction in the comments, and make sure to share how you think the Bears will do this season.