Chicago Bears 2026 Schedule Release: News, Leaks, and Rumor Tracker

The NFL will officially drop the 2026 schedule in a big prime-time special on Thursday, May 14, at 7 p.m. CT on NFL Network. The Chicago Bears, and the other 31 teams in the League, will also have a fun schedule release video prepped and ready to hit social media at that same time.

However, various NFL broadcast partners will be able to announce some of their games before Thursday, so we’ll track some of those here. We’ll also track the leaks from local and national reporters on the key dates around the League, and for the Bears’ 18-week schedule below.

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In case you missed it, the Bears won’t host an international game this season, but there’s a chance they could travel to play in one of the final International games to be announced. The full International slate will be announced on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. CT.

Our partners at FanDuel have Chicago’s win total at 9.5 (over +110/under -130), and in case you were wondering, last year at this time it was at 8.5. They are third to win the NFL North at +320, with their playoff odds at +108. If you have the Bears winning the NFC, you can get that at +1300, with their odds to win the Super Bowl at +2500. There have several player props as well, like Caleb Williams winning MVP at +1600 and Dillon Thieneman winning Defensive Rookie of the Year at +2200, so hit up our partners at FanDuel if you want to sprinkle a little on the 2026 season.

While you’re waiting for all the game day specifics, here are Chicago’s 2026 opponents.

HOME: Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars

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AWAY: Lions, Packers, Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks

Keep in mind that unless the NFL announces the game, these are all to be considered rumors until the League makes it official. Also, some of these are my educated guesses based on the schedule leaks from the other teams the Bears are playing.

2026 Bears Schedule Rumor Tracker

Preseason

Week 1 –

Week 2 –

Week 3 –

Regular Season

Week 1 –

Week 2 –

Week 3 –

Week 4 –

Week 5 –

Week 6 –

Week 7 –

Week 8 –

Week 9 –

Week 10 –

Week 11 –

Week 12 –

Week 13 –

Week 14 –

Week 15 –

Week 16 –

Week 17 –

Week 18 –

Once the specifics for the Bears’ games are announced, we’ll share the dates, times, and channel information in a new article here at WCG, so stay tuned!

Some high-profile game rumors and announcements regarding the 2026 NFL season

• UPDATE: The Falcons will host the Bengals in Spain, so the only other possibility for the Bears playing internationally would be vs the Lions, who host a game in Germany. And before you ask, yes, the NFL has had divisional games played internationally before.

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• The Chiefs and Broncos are on week 1 of Monday Night Football.

• Eagles at Cowboys on Thanksgiving is official.

• The Buffalo Bills will host the Lions in week 2 on Thursday Night Football to open their new stadium.

• There’s a growing rumor from New England that the Patriots will head to Seattle for the season opener… BUT NOT SO FAST MY FRIENDS… Adam Schefter thinks it’ll be the Bears in Seattle for the season opener… Then again, this guy has been known to get schedule leaks in the past, and he says the Patriots are going to Seattle.

• NBC announced that they will get an extra Week 17 game on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027, at 3:30 p.m. CT on NBC and Peacock (link)

On Thursday night, join Ryan Droste and Bryan Orenchuk for a LIVE Bears Over Beers on our 2nd City Gridiron YouTube channel, where they’ll be discussing the NFL Schedule!