The NFL is releasing their full schedule at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2, NFL Network), with a few sneak peaks coming beforehand. The league announced its international slate and a few select regular season games Wednesday, and will more of the latter again Thursday.
One industry source said earlier this week they would open the season at home against the Packers — playing without Aaron Rodgers for the first time in a generation — at 3:25 p.m at Soldier Field.
They will finish the season at Lambeau Field in Week 18, per The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. The day and time of that game will be determined later. The league will decide two Saturday games and one Sunday Night Football game for Week 18 on six days’ notice, as they typically have playoff implications.
The Bears will play at the Commanders on Thursday Night Football in Week 5, per NBC Sports Washington, and host the Vikings in Week 6, per the Star Tribune.
For the first time, the NFL can flex Monday Night Football games in 2023. MNF games can be changed from Week 13-17. Sunday Night Football games can be changed twice from Week 5-10 and anytime between Weeks 11-17. In all cases, the league must make the change on 12 days’ notice.
Only Sunday games — not Thursday games or the league’s new Black Friday game — can be flexed into SNF or MNF timeslots. The game moved out of the nighttime spot will be slotted into Sunday afternoon.
In addition to a home-and-home series against their NFC North foes, the Bears will host games against the Cardinals, Falcons, Panthers, Broncos and Raiders. The Panthers famously traded up with the Bears to draft quarterback Bryce Young first overall.
The Bears will play their out-of-division road games against the Browns, Chiefs, Chargers, Saints, Buccaneers and Commanders. Only two teams, the Packers and Bengals, will travel fewer air miles than the Bears.
