The Bears released their 2024 schedule in style last night with an ode to Mean Girls, Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Home Alone in their video. While seeing those movie references in the schedule release video is cool, the most important piece of the video is seeing when the Bears play certain opponents.
The Bears' schedule this season is definitely interesting, as they open the season with three straight AFC South opponents, which is strange because out-of-conference games are typically more spread out. Furthermore, they don't play any division opponents until Week 11, giving each division opponent time to jell before their first matchups.
Although the structuring of the schedule may not be what many fans had hoped for, the Bears still have the fourth easiest schedule in the NFL. That will lead to some easy wins with a much-improved Bears roster from a season ago.
Here are three guaranteed wins on the Bears 2024 schedule.
While this may not be the most exciting Week 1 matchup for Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears it's definitely one of the more winnable ones. The Titans are coming off a 6-11 campaign with Will Levis quarterbacking the team. Levis was a rookie last season and performed decently, completing 58.4% of his passes for 1808 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions in nine starts last season.
Levis' struggles in the air last season had lots to do with the lack of talent the team had at receiver. The Titans paid Calvin Ridley lots of money this offseason to try and help with that issue. However, Ridley is coming off a season where he only caught 55.8% of his targets, so the addition may not be the help the team thought they were looking for.
The Titans also let superstar running back Derrick Henry go this offseason. Henry has been the backbone of the Titans for the past eight seasons, so who knows what the team's offense will look like with him gone. All of these factors should lead to a Bears' victory to open the season.
Week 5: Oct.6 vs. Panthers
Forever linked after trading the number one pick in the 2023 draft for D.J. Moore and what turned out to be the number one overall pick in this past draft, the Bears and Panthers play each other again. Last season, Bryce Young and undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent dueled on a cold fall night in Chicago. Ultimately, the Bears came out victorious 16-13 that night. While we hope for a little more scoring from the Bears this year, the outcome should stay the same as the Bears have a much more complete team.
The Panthers made some major moves on the offensive line this offseason when they signed offensive guards Robert Hunt and Damian Lewis to massive contracts. These two signings were made to help protect Young since he was under constant pressure last season. Outside of that, they brought in receivers Ihmir Smith-Marsette and David Moore in free agency and drafted wide receiver Jalen Coker. These additions don't exactly scare a defense.
On the defensive side of the ball, Carolina did add lots of players, but they also lost some key players like Brian Burns and Frankie Luvu. Overall, the Panthers' defense got slightly worse this offseason, so the new potentially potent Bears offense should have no problem moving the ball down the field. The Bears having the more complete team should help guarantee a win.
Chicago Bears fans are buzzing after the NFL's official schedule release Wednesday night, which set the stage for the entire 2024 campaign.
Many are looking forward to Week 1, as it'll mark top pick Caleb Williams' first NFL start. And after the schedule release, Williams now knows it's the Tennessee Titans he'll be battling in his pro debut.
Even though Williams will enter that contest without an NFL appearance under his belt, oddsmakers are bullish on the USC product ahead of his first game.
FanDuel Sportsbook lists the Bears as solid 4.5-point home favorites (-118 to cover) versus the Titans (-104) in Week 1. Chicago's a strong -240 on the moneyline as well, while Tennessee is a clear underdog at +198.
There's obviously time for this line to change, but it speaks to the Bears' overall impressive offseason that they're this big of favorites from the jump.
Williams headlines the list of big-name additions on offense, though this team's wide receiver corps has received major reinforcements as well, with Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze joining 2023 standout D.J. Moore.
That's not even to mention the signings of reigning Pro Bowl running back D'Andre Swift to improve this backfield, productive veteran Gerald Everett to bolster the tight end group, and former All-Pro safety Kevin Byard coming in to replace Eddie Jackson.
Tennessee's done well in bringing in top talent this offseason -- adding the likes of Calvin Ridley, Tony Pollard and L'Jarius Sneed -- but its uncertainty at QB is a major liability.
Will Levis is now taking over as the starter, yet his 3-6 record to close last season doesn't inspire a ton of confidence. His 8 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions across nine contests look solid on their own, but those numbers are propped up by a 4-TD showing in his first appearance -- which means he managed just 4 TDs and 4 INTs over his final eight games.
With the Titans' defense experiencing big changes and a new head coach on the sidelines, it'd be no surprise if this squad takes a few weeks before finding its footing.
Given all of that going against Tennessee, this revamped Bears roster should have little issues beating the Titans by at least a touchdown.
