The NFL will officially drop the 2026 schedule in a big prime-time special on Thursday, May 14, at 7 p.m. CT on NFL Network. The Chicago Bears, and the other 31 teams in the League, will also have a fun schedule release video prepped and ready to hit social media at that same time.
However, various NFL broadcast partners will be able to announce some of their games before Thursday, so we’ll track some of those here. We’ll also track the leaks from local and national reporters on the key dates around the League, and for the Bears’ 18-week schedule below.
UPDATE: The Bears are not playing an International game.
Our partners at FanDuel have Chicago’s win total at 9.5 (over +110/under -130), and in case you were wondering, last year at this time it was at 8.5. They are third to win the NFL North at +320, with their playoff odds at +108. If you have the Bears winning the NFC, you can get that at +1300, with their odds to win the Super Bowl at +2500. There are several player props as well, like Caleb Williams winning MVP at +1600 and Dillon Thieneman winning Defensive Rookie of the Year at +2200, so hit up our partners at FanDuel if you want to sprinkle a little on the 2026 season.
While you’re waiting for all the game day specifics, here are Chicago’s 2026 opponents.
HOME: Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars
AWAY: Lions, Packers, Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks
Keep in mind that unless the NFL announces the game, these are all to be considered rumors until the League makes it official. Also, some of these are my educated guesses based on the schedule leaks from the other teams the Bears are playing.
2026 Bears Schedule Rumor Tracker
Preseason
Week 1 –
Week 2 –
Week 3 –
Regular Season
Week 1 – Bears at Panthers (link)
Week 2 – Vikings at the Bears (All these rumors without a link were shared via a TikTok screenshot, so I don’t know the source, but so far they look legit. If other rumors come up, I’ll link them.)
Week 3 – Eagles at Bears on Monday Night Football (link)
Week 4 – Jets at Bears
Week 5 – Packers at Bears at 3:25
Week 6 – Bears at Falcons
Week 7 – Patriots at Bears on Thursday Night Football (link)
Week 8 – Bears at Seattle on Monday Night Football
Week 9 – Buccaneers at Bears on Sunday Night Football (link)
Week 10 – BYE WEEK
Week 11 – Saints at Bears
Week 12 – Bears at Lions on Thanksgiving on CBS in the early slot (link)
Week 13 – Jacksonville at Chicago
Week 14 – Bears at Miami
Week 15 – Bears at Bills on Saturday
Week 16 – Bears at Green Bay on Christmas
Week 17 – Lions at Bears at 3:25 CT (link)
Week 18 – Bears at the Vikings (link)
Once the specifics for the Bears’ games are announced, we’ll share the dates, times, and channel information in a new article here at WCG, so stay tuned!
Some high-profile game rumors and announcements regarding the 2026 NFL season
- The Bears will not open the season in Seattle… The Patriots will.
- Big rumors flowing that the Bears will play on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
- The Lions are hosting the Patriots in Germany, so the Bears are playing all their games in the United States. (link)
- The Falcons will host the Bengals in Spain, so the only other possibility for the Bears playing internationally would be vs the Lions, who host a game in Germany. And before you ask, yes, the NFL has had divisional games played internationally before.
- The Chiefs and Broncos are on week 1 of Monday Night Football.
- Eagles at Cowboys on Thanksgiving is official.
- The Buffalo Bills will host the Lions in week 2 on Thursday Night Football to open their new stadium.
- The Dallas Cowboys will host the New York Giants in the Sunday Night Football season opener.
- There’s a growing rumor from New England that the Patriots will head to Seattle for the season opener… BUT NOT SO FAST MY FRIENDS… Adam Schefter thinks it’ll be the Bears in Seattle for the season opener… Then again, this guy has been known to get schedule leaks in the past, and he says the Patriots are going to Seattle.
- NBC announced that they will get an extra Week 17 game on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027, at 3:30 p.m. CT on NBC and Peacock (link)
On Thursday night, join Ryan Droste and Bryan Orenchuk for a LIVE Bears Over Beers on our 2nd City Gridiron YouTube channel, where they’ll be discussing the NFL Schedule!
