These 4 Chicago Bears games are must-see TV in 2023

When the NFL schedule drops every year, it’s hard to pick which games we should be most excited to watch. It’s the middle of May, and any football game is better than none.

Now that some time has passed since the 2023 schedule release, I can pinpoint four games that should be must-see TV for Bears fans and potentially the entire league. These games are division rivalries, may have playoff implications, or should be a matchup of two red-hot offenses.

Week 1: Bears vs Packers

This is the obvious first choice. Right off the bat, we get the NFL’s oldest and best rivalry as America’s Game of the Week on opening weekend.

A new era is dawning in Green Bay now that Aaron Rodgers is a New York Jet. Unproven former first-round pick Jordan Love will be under center for the Packers, making it the first time in three decades that the Bears won’t face a Hall-of-Fame quarterback. At least he isn’t that guy yet.

For Chicago, they’re also kicking off a new era that involves for the first time (ever?) that a Bears quarterback could be the best in the NFC North.

The schedule makers understand all the implications that this matchup will have, and they must have been just as eager as the rest of us to see where this historic rivalry is headed.

Week 3: Bears at Chiefs

This is not a game I expect the Bears to win. The Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champs, and Patrick Mahomes is the reigning MVP. However, Chicago can use this game as a measuring stick of sorts.

After a soft start to the schedule, this will be the first real test for the new-look Chicago Bears, which Bears fans hope Fields can prove he belongs on the same field as the best player in the NFL.

With two dynamic young quarterbacks, this matchup certainly has the potential to be a high-scoring shootout.

If the Bears leave Week 3 with a 2-1 record and the offense can keep pace with the Chiefs, excitement will build around this team and their playoff chances.

Week 10: Bears vs Panthers

The Bears held the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft for about two months before trading it to Carolina, and almost every day of those two months, someone in NFL media tried to make a case for the Bears ditching Justin Fields and drafting Bryce Young.

This matchup has the potential to provide vindication one way or the other, assuming Young is Carolina’s starter at this point. If Young is rolling towards an Offensive Rookie of the Year award and he torches the Bears for a big win, the folks who suggested trading Fields will take victory laps.

If Fields can lead the Bears to an emphatic win, it should serve as the final nail in the coffin of that ridiculous offseason narrative and prove that GM Ryan Poles was right to place his trust in QB1.

Week 18: Bears at Packers

After all the improvements the Chicago Bears have made this offseason, I expect them to be firmly in the playoff race until the bitter end, so a Week 18 matchup with a division rival could be a win-or-go-home game.

Three years ago, the thought of going into Lambeau Field with the season on the line sent shivers down many fans’ spines. But with Aaron Rodgers gone and the Packers suffering embarrassing home losses in January lately, times have changed.