Chicago Bears’ schedule offers a chance to climb NFC North standings in 2023

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles has gone on record this offseason, stating that he expects the 2023 version of the Chicago Bears to compete for an NFC North crown this year. This is a large proclamation given that the team is coming off a league-worst three-win campaign in 2022. Even so, you can hear the excitement in Poles’ voice when he talks about this team compared to the last season’s.

“It’s not even close,” Poles said via The Athletic. “This is a different group, practice, meetings, the weight room. I feel like a family is starting to come together, even with the rookie class just showing up this past week. There’s just a different feeling.”

Going from worst to first seems to happen every other year in the NFL. However, as most Bears fans can tell you, the NFC North has had a regular pecking order for the last four years. The Packers and Vikings will battle for the crown, with the Packers usually pulling ahead late. This leaves the Lions and Bears competing for the third spot. But with the departure of Aaron Rogers to the New York Jets, the division is as open as ever, and Poles believes it.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the 2023 schedule to see how it may line up for the Bears in 2023.

The Bears are in prime-time

Despite having the worst record in the NFL last year, the Bears were awarded four prime-time games this year. If you combine that with three additional games in the late afternoon spot, you have at least seven games where a national audience will be tuned in to see Justin Fields & Co.

The NFL likes to showcase its playmakers, and it’s clear that they believe the Bears will be an exciting on-field product. Much like the Lions last year, the Bears could also benefit from a possible stint on Hard Knocks before the season kicks off (they are one of four teams eligible for the show).

Rest Advantage

Net rest is the extra number of rest days a team has over their opponent per game, summed over the course of the season. Per Sharp Football Analysis, the Bears have a +12 net rest. (the most in the league). They do not play a single team coming off a bye week. In contrast, the Los Angeles Rams have four such games.

Last year the three teams with the lowest net rest (Packers, Patriots & Texans) all finished below their expected win total. Conversely, the two teams with the most net rest (Bills and Lions) went over.

“Yeah, so once you look at the schedule, you know, and I presented it to the team after the weekend it came out, I think it’s a positive,” Eberflus said. “You know, cause you look at two Thursday games that are Game 5 and Game 10, so you really have two mini-byes, and I think that’s a real big positive for us. Gives us a little break after five games and after 10 games.”

During the 2022 season, the Bears took advantage of the mini-bye after the Washington Commanders game and started moving the offense in the right direction. It will be interesting to see if they can also take advantage of the opportunities in 2023.

Midseason Road Trip

Weeks 8-12 will provide a tough test for the Bears in the middle of the season. The Chicago Bears will have road games against the Los Chargers and New Orleans Saints, come home for a quick Thursday night game against the Carolina Panthers, then have back-to-back divisional games on the road against the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings before heading into their BYE week.

Four of the five games are on the road, and three are on prime-time television. This stretch will be a great test to see if the Bears can handle a little adversity while in the limelight.

Some Division Nuggets

Finally, there were some interesting items for the division games this year.

• The Bears will bookend the season with the Packers (Week 1 and Week 18). While Week 1 is an afternoon kickoff, the streak of three consecutive seasons with Bears vs. Packers in a primetime game will be broken. This is despite the Packers having five primetime games this year.
• The Lions also do not have a nationally televised matchup with the Bears despite having four primetime games.
• The Bears have the hardest strength of schedule in the NFC North based on 2022 opponent win percentage (.497). This is a little odd, considering they finished last in the division and would play the corresponding last-place teams in the conference.