The Chicago Bears’ 2026 regular season schedule was officially released Thursday night and we now know the entire 17-game slate the team will face this upcoming season.

Chicago pulled seven primetime/holiday games this upcoming season, a sign that the Bears have become one of the most exciting teams in the league and they’ll have to back that up for a second season in a row after winning 11 games in 2025.

History doesn’t appear to be on Chicago’s side as the team is set to face the toughest schedule based on 2025 win totals. However, the Bears overcame similar concerns last season and this team isn’t showing any signs of regression. So, let’s go week-by-week and predict the wins/losses for each game on the schedule.

Chicago Bears 2026 Game-by-Game Predictions

Week 1 at Carolina Panthers

Headline: Caleb Williams outduels Bryce Young to finally end the CHI-CAR trade talks

A lot of people weren’t thrilled when this game was announced as the opening game on Chicago’s schedule but I can see this game staying within one possession. Carolina retooled the defense in a big way this offseason but I’m still skeptical the Bryce Young-led offense will be able to beat Caleb Williams and the Bears’ unit.

Score Prediction: Bears win 21-14 (1-0)

Week 2 vs. Minnesota Vikings

Headline: Bears keep Kyler Murray bottled up (under 25 rushing yards, 2+ sacks)

It’s always smart not to predict too many points against a Brian Flores-led defense. So, I’m keeping this a low-scoring affair but have the Bears coming out on top in the defensive chess match. With Kyler Murray under center now in Minnesota, the Bears can show off the new speed they added on defense to help keep him contained and frustrated.

Score Prediction: Bears win 17-10 (2-0)

Week 3 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Headline: Eagles fail to get their revenge without having AJ Brown

First primetime game of the season with the Eagles coming to town on a Monday night looking to avenge last season’s loss in Philly. However, the Eagles likely aren’t going to have AJ Brown this time around, the player who actually kept the Eagles in that game last season. Bears pull off a 10-point win in front of the home crowd on a national stage.

Score Prediction: Bears win 27-17 (3-0)

Week 4 vs. New York Jets

Headline: Caleb Williams goes nuclear with 4 passing TDs to 4 different players

First offensive explosion of the 2026 season will easily come against the Jets as Ben Johnson goes up against Aaron Glenn for the first time as head coaches. Williams is going to have a field day against this defense and I’ll say Geno Smith has at least three turnovers. This one will get ugly really fast.

Score Prediction: Bears win 35-13 (4-0)

Week 5 at Green Bay Packers

Headline: Micah Parsons returns with vengeance, gets game-winning sack on Caleb Williams

The perfect start comes to an end at Lambeau. I fully expect Micah Parsons will return in this game after missing the first four weeks of the season and will make his presence known. I go as far as saying Parsons gets the game-winning sack after running Williams down on a fourth-down scramble drill.

Score Prediction: Bears lose 21-28 (4-1)

Week 6 at Atlanta Falcons

Headline: Bijan Robinson starts building OPOTY case with 150+ yards, 2 TDs

The snowball starts building after one loss with another road loss. This smells like a trap game and could easily be the one where the concerns about the defensive front come to life. Bijan Robinson is a monster and has a massive performance to control the game.

Score Prediction: Bears lose 13-17 (4-2)

Week 7 vs. New England Patriots

Headline: Bears bounce back at home, Williams passes Drake Maye in early MVP race

This is going to be an awesome primetime duel between Williams and Drake Maye. I see it being a high-scoring game and see the Bears bouncing back at home on Thursday night after two straight losses. Williams outduels Maye and moves up the early MVP watch list.

Score Prediction: Bears win 32-28 (5-2)

Week 8 at Seattle Seahawks

Headline: Bears fail to capitalize on the long break, falling to the Seahawks

This is really the only big travel game the Bears have this upcoming season and get a length break going from a TNF game to a MNF game. However, the long time off ends up hurting the Bears, not helping. Chicago comes out of the gate slow on offense and isn’t quite able to pull off the comeback late against the defending champs.

Score Prediction: Bears lose 24-27 (5-3)

Week 9 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Headline: Pass rush finally comes alive again against Baker Mayfield

Bears get another bounce back win at home to close out the three straight primetime games and enters the bye week with some momentum after getting the better of Baker Mayfield with an encouraging showing from the defensive front.

Score Prediction: Bears win 24-15 (6-3)

Week 10 Bye

Bears have a later bye compared to the 2025 season, but it’ll give the team a much needed breather after three straight games under the bright lights before making the final push.

Week 11 vs. New Orleans Saints

Headline: Run game dominates after the bye, Swift and Monangai go for 100+ yards each

The bye week finally gives Ben Johnson the opportunity to cook up some dangerous things with the run game, leading to a 200+ yard rushing performance with D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai each posting 100+ yards with a touchdown.

Score Prediction: Bears win 35-10 (7-3)

Week 12 at Detroit Lions

Headline: Thanksgiving matchup proves to be an offensive feast, Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson go viral after the win

Ben Johnson is going to be in his bag for this game after going 0-2 against the Lions, including a game in which Chicago allowed 52 points in Detroit. This time around, Johnson’s offense is prepared for a heavy-weight slugfest on Thanksgiving and the final shot is Caleb Williams eating a turkey leg that will go viral similar to the cheese grater moment from last season. In the locker room, Johnson gives the most incredible “Good, Better, Best” speech of all time.

Score Prediction: Bears win 48-42 (8-3)

Week 13 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Headline: Bears avoid the high emotion trap thanks to a big late return by Zavion Thomas

Coming off a high-emotion win on Thanksgiving, the Bears are riding the high a little too much coming back to Soldier Field and nearly get beat with Jacksonville taking a late lead. However, rookie Zavion Thomas finally arrives with a massive kick return under a minute remaining that bails Chicago out of a loss and sets up a walk-off field goal.

Score Prediction: Bears win 25-24 (9-3)

Week 14 at Miami Dolphins

Headline: Bears handle business in Miami to reach double-digit wins

Bears finally get a break from the elements late in the season and take a nice trip down to Miami. The weather becomes the perfect recipe for the Bears’ offense with another 30+ point outing to reach 10 wins on the season.

Score Prediction: Bears win 35-21 (10-3)

Week 15 at Buffalo Bills

Headline: Playoff doubts start to rise after Bears have no answer for Josh Allen

The five game win streak comes to an end in Buffalo and fans start questioning if this team is really capable of matching up against the big dogs. Josh Allen has an insane game and pulls ahead in the MVP race.

Score Prediction: Bears lose 32-44 (10-4)

Week 16 vs. Green Bay Packers

Headline: Bears punch their ticket to the playoffs on Christmas Day

Bears pull off another holiday win against an NFC North opponent to improve to 3-1 in the NFC North and match their win total from the 2025 season. With the win, Chicago punches their ticket to the playoffs but the NFC North title is still up for grabs between the Bears, Lions, and Packers. Final shot of the game on Christmas is Rome Odunze doing a “Lambeau Leap” into the crowd while wearing a Bears-themed Santa hat.

Score Prediction: Bears win 24-16 (11-4)

Week 17 vs. Detroit Lions

Headline: Bears drop final home game of the season, putting NFC North title up for grabs

The emotional win finally catches up to the Bears as Chicago loses the falling week and fails to sweep the Lions. The loss prevents the Bears from locking up the division, setting up for an exciting three-team race in Week 18. If Chicago loses the final, winner of Lions-Packers wins the division.

Score Prediction: Bears lose 16-21 (11-5)

Week 18 at Minnesota Vikings

Headline: Caleb Williams finally gets the better of Brian Flores to clinch NFC North title

Finally, Williams and the Bears get the better of Brian Flores and drop 30 points on Minnesota for the first time since 2020. Despite all of the drama, Chicago handily wins to end the regular season and repeats as NFC North champs. Connections are made to the Lovie Smith-led teams that went 11-5 in 2005 and then went to the Super Bowl in 2006.

Score Prediction: Bears win 30-17 (12-5)

Final 2026 Projected Record: 12-5, 4-2 in NFC North

The Bears defy the odds and actually improve from the 2025 season with a 12-5 record in 2026 that included another NFC North title. However, the Bears are stuck with the No. 2 seed in the conference entering the playoffs with the Los Angeles Rams as the No. 1 seed.

BONUS PREDICTION: NFC Championship Game will be played at SoFi in a rematch against Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford. The Rams come out on top and carry the homefield advantage through the Super Bowl, after which Stafford retires as SBMVP.