BEARS 2025 SCHEDULE: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

By Clete Campbell

Windy City End Zone & The Chicago Sports Reporter

The Chicago Bears now have their landmine-filled, fire suit-required road map to the 2025 NFL Playoffs.

Getting from O’Hare to Downtown in 30 minutes or less during rush hour is an easier challenge. 

It’s a heptathlon times 2.1 of playoff-caliber opponents. The 2024 win percentage of the Bears’ opponents this coming season is .571, making it the second-best in the NFL. Chicago will play 11 games against teams that were above .500 in 2024 and 10 games against playoff teams from last season.

So much for playing a last-place schedule.

Paging Ethan Hunt and his Impossible Mission Force. USA Today’s Jacob Carmenker is already predicting the Bears to make a hard-luck 8-9 run.

But to a man, Caleb “The Chef” Williams and the Bears would swear on the Bible they’d  rather get the postseason the hard way.   

On the plus side, Chicago will travel the fifth-fewest miles among NFL teams, so they are saving some frequent flyer miles points.

But as ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter notes, there are still no excuses against this schedule for the Bears roaring back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

“Think about the expectations that are on Caleb Williams compared to the way we are talking about (Washington Commanders second-year quarterback) Jayden Daniels. It’s night and day,” Schefter said Wednesday.

So with Bears Nation's expectations and excitement for the coming season higher than a runaway rocket, let’s dive into the gauntlet that is the Bears’ hot-off-the-press 2025 schedule.

Week 1: BEARS VS. VIKINGS (Monday Night Football)

Kickoff: Monday, Sept. 8, 7:15 p.m. TV: ABC, ESPN

The Bear Truth: Why wait until the second half of the season for an NFC North dog fight with playoff consequences? The Bears get a Vikings team reloading under J.J. McCarthy. New Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen can smell make-a-statement blood already.  

Week 2: BEARS AT LIONS

Kickoff: Sunday, Sept. 14, Noon. TV:  FOX

The Bear Truth: It’s Anakin vs. Obi-Wan as Ben Johnson and Matt Campbell duel for the first time and the Bears continue their make-or-make-up-playoff-ground-from-almost-six-feet-down NFC North opening tour.

Week 3: COWBOYS VS. BEARS

Kickoff: Sunday, Sept. 21, 3:25 p.m. TV: FOX

The Bear Truth: Revenge, the Bears hope to teach new Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, is a dish best served ice cold the way John Wick whips it up. The Bears will study their own 2024 defensive game tape for this one.

Week 4: BEARS AT RAIDERS

Kickoff: Sunday, Sept. 28, 3:25 p.m. TV: CBS

The Bear Truth: A Gotta Get W. Chicago has taken three of the last four from the Silver & Black, who are building their latest rebuilding plan with promising rookie QB Cam Miller, who has zero architectural experience.

Week 5: BEARS VS. BYE

The Bear Truth: Sure, it’s an R&R off week, but the Bears’ terrible recent history in games following off weeks makes this a critical heal up week. Chicago has lost 10 straight games following its bye week.

Week 6: BEARS AT COMMANDERS (Monday Night Football)

Kickoff: Monday, Oct. 13, 7:15 p.m.TV: ESPN

The Bear Truth: It should come with a Viewer Advisory Warning. Like Bill Buckner walking back into Shea Stadium, Caleb and the Boys return to the haunted scene of the Hail Mary that derailed their once-promising 2024 season and ignited Matt Eberflus’ descent into Jack Nicholson-in-“The Shining” strategic coaching madness. 

Week 7: SAINTS VS. BEARS

Kickoff: Sunday, Oct. 19, Noon TV: FOX

The Bear Truth: Another young foe in comeback mode. This is as close to an easy week as the Bears will get during the season’s first half. 

Week 8: BEARS AT RAVENS

Kickoff: Sunday, Oct. 26, Noon. TV: CBS

The Bear Truth: The Chef gets a chance to see how a two-time NFL MVP cooks as he goes to battle against Lamar Jackson and the ageless Travis Henry.

Week 9: BEARS AT BENGALS

Kickoff: Sunday, Nov. 2, Noon. TV: CBS

The Bear Truth: The Bears’ secondary’s tour of elite NFL QBs continues as this week brings Joe Cool. You can bet your season tickets that Burrow hasn’t forgotten the Chicago secondary picking him three times in Chicago’s 30-19 2021 win at Soldier Field.

Week 10: GIANTS VS. BEARS

Kickoff: Sunday, Nov. 9, Noon. TV: FOX

The Bear Truth: A home W over a Giants club that played like mice during a 3-14 2024 campaign is a playoff must.

Week 11: BEARS AT VIKINGS

Kickoff: Sunday, Nov. 16, Noon. TV: FOX

The Bear Truth: Four of the last six games in this epic rivalry have been one-score affairs, the Bears’ Kryptonite during their five-year playoff swoon. Tom Skilling’s early long-off forecast is to expect another nailbiter with a 50-percent chance of fourth-quarter game-winning drive needed.

Week 12: STEELERS VS. BEARS

Kickoff: Sunday, Nov. 23, Noon. TV: CBS

The Bear Truth: There’s no way Darth Rodgers is under center for Mike Tomlin when the Black and Gold return to Soldier Field, is there? If so, a frosty reception awaits Chicago’s self-proclaimed true owner.

Week 13: BEARS AT EAGLES

Kickoff: Friday, Nov. 28, 2 p.m. TV: Amazon Prime Video

The Bear Truth: The ultimate litmus test of progress with potential playoff implications. We will find out, as Dennis Green would say, “if the Bears are who we thought we are” in this one. Williams gets his first duel against Philadelphia star Jalen Hurts.

“With turkey in the rearview mirror, the Bears will have to bring a big appetite to Philadelphia on Black Friday,” NFL.com’s Nick Shook writes.

Week 14: BEARS AT PACKERS

Kickoff: Sunday, Dec. 7, Noon. TV: FOX

The Bear Truth: Bears kicker Cairo Santos says let’s run it back and start the Bears’ first winning streak over the Cheeseheads since 2007-08.

Week 15: BROWNS AT BEARS

Kickoff: Dec. 14, Noon. TV: FOX

The Bear Truth: Another one from the Failure Is Not An Option Department, especially given Cleveland’s black hole offense, which could be piloted by QB X. Bears D will look to outperform Myles Garrett and one of the game’s best units here.

Week 16: PACKERS VS. BEARS

Kickoff: Saturday, Dec. 20 or Sunday, Time TBA TV: FOX

The Bear Truth: There is no, absolutely no better rare Christmas present the Bears can give their fans than a holiday home victory over the evil Cheese Empire, especially one that draws Chicago closer to the postseason.

“The Bears getting a late-season island game at Soldier Field against the Packers is unheard of around here,” Bleacher Nation’s Luis C. Medina notes. (Chicago Bears Notes: Happy 2025 NFL Schedule Release Day!)

Week 17: BEARS AT 49ERS

Kickoff: Sunday, Dec. 28, 7:20 p.m. TV: NBC

The Bear Truth: Drinking the Kool-Aid Ala Da Super Fans, NBC’s betting big holiday Sunday Night Football ratings the Bears will be in the thick of NFC Playoff hunt. Can Johnson out-strategize a two-time NFC champion in Niners boss Kyle Shanahan?

Week 18: LIONS VS. BEARS

Kickoff, TV: TBA

The Bear Truth: Maybe THE Game of the Season. A possible 12-round offensive fire fight with a team’s playoff destiny on the line. Everything else on the schedule is just a precursor to this Student vs. the Teacher battle between Johnson and Lions boss Dan Campbell.