Bears' schedule brings predictions of doom, but that misses the mark

TL;DR

The Chicago Bears face a challenging schedule for the 2026 NFL season, leading to predictions of a bleak outcome. Analysts, including ESPN's Ben Solak, suggest the Bears may not make the playoffs.

Key points

Chicago Bears have a tough schedule for the 2026 NFL season
Predictions of doom have emerged regarding their performance
ESPN's Ben Solak suggests they will miss the postseason

Mentioned in this story

Ben Solak

Chicago BearsNFL

Bears' schedule brings predictions of doom, but that misses the mark originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Chicago Bears have a tough schedule for the 2026 NFL season.

When the league unveiled its slate on Thursday night, that was one of the major takeaways, and it has brought with it predictions of doom.

For example, ESPN's Ben Solak makes the case that the Bears will miss the postseason entirely.

"The Bears have the hardest schedule in the NFL, based on the 2025 win/loss records of the teams they'll play in 2026," Solak writes. "And while that is certainly not the only indicator of schedule strength, history says it's definitely not nothing. The last team to win a playoff game after entering the season with the hardest schedule by that metric was the 2016 Falcons. Over the past 10 seasons, seven of those teams missed the playoffs entirely."

So yeah, it won't be easy.

But the Bears might be up to the task.

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