Chicago Bears 2011 Schedule: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Last year, the Chicago Bears surprised the football world by going 11-5, earning a bye in the playoffs before losing to the Green Bay Packers 21-14 in the NFC Championship game. Not bad for a team that many people predicted to finish last place before the season started.
Yes, life was pretty good for Bears fans in 2010. But to quote Peter Parker's uncle from Spider-Man, "With great power comes great responsibility."
The Bears did indeed finish first last year, but now they have a dreaded potential ailment heading into 2011: expectations. Whether fans and analysts expect the Bears to succeed, or expect them to fall on their faces, there is going to be a bull's-eye on this team they did not have for virtually all of last season.
Along with those expectations comes a 2011 schedule that can easily classified as good, bad and flat-out ugly. Let's examine the 13 foes the Bears will contend with next year.
The Good: Playing the AFC West
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Of the four AFC divisions, the AFC West is probably the weakest. The AFC East has two Super Bowl contenders plus two middle-of-the-road teams. Ditto for the AFC North. The AFC South has the Colts and three other teams that could all finish 6-10 or 10-6.
That takes you to the AFC West. You have the Chargers, who look like their window of opportunity for being an elite team is closing; the Raiders, who have not had a winning season since their 2002 Super Bowl season; and the Broncos, who are currently a train wreck thanks to the destruction of two years of Josh McDaniels running the team.
The Chiefs are the defending AFC West champions, but are not up to the class of the Patriots, Steelers and Colts. Additionally, they pride themselves on a running game, which happens to be the best part of the Bears defense.
The Bears should be able to go 3-1 against these teams.
The Bad: The Bears Have To Play at Denver
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While Denver should be the easiest team to play in the AFC West, the Bears will be traveling to Jay Cutler's old home, and his former fans are surely not going to give him a warm welcome. While the Bears lucked out playing Kansas City at Soldier Field, this game, aside from their trips to Green Bay and Philadelphia will have perhaps the most hostile fans all year.
The Ugly: The First Three Weeks
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Last year, the Bears were given the good fortune of playing one of their easiest games on Opening Day. What better way to get out all those early season kinks by playing against the lowly Detroit Lions?
As many of you know, the Bears probably should have lost that game, as they needed an obscure NFL rule to say that Lions receiver Calvin Johnson "dropped" the ball on what looked like a game-winning touchdown grab.
The Bears' early schedule good fortune came in Week 2 when they beat a vastly overrated Cowboys team in Dallas. Riding that momentum they found a way to beat Green Bay at home in Week 3 despite Aaron Rodgers looking like he was playing in a scrimmage.
The Bears will get no such luxury this year as they open up against one of the best teams in the NFL last year in the Atlanta Falcons. When you look at their next two games, you realize that Week 1 may just be one of the more important games of the year.
Following their game with the Falcons, the Bears have to travel to New Orleans to play against the Super Bowl-contending Saints. They then have to come home and play the defending Super Bowl champion Packers.
Without looking at the schedules of other teams, I could say with some degree of certainty that the Bears have one of the most difficult opening three games in the entire league.
If the Bears could somehow come out of these first three games with a 2-1 record, it would set them up very well for the rest of the season. However it's just as possible if not outright likely that the team could quickly dig itself into an 0-3 hole.
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The Good: The Three Games After Green Bay
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While the Bears play one of the hardest first three weeks in recent team history, the light at the end of the tunnel will come at Week 4, when they host Ron Rivera and the rebuilding Carolina Panthers. While Rivera, the former Bears player and defensive coordinator who was unceremoniously dropped after the 2006 Super Bowl season, will undoubtedly get his team motivated, this is a game the Bears should win.
Following Carolina comes a trip to Detroit to play an improved Lions team. Still, the Bears should be favored to win this game, though the Lions did put a scare into their rival in both contests in 2010.
Week 6 will see the Bears hosting the Minnesota Vikings, who may very well be the worst team in the division right now. With no quarterback, a new coach and an aging defense, the Vikings have the look of a team that needs to rebuild.
The Bad: Two Hard Road Games
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Following the yin and yang of the Bears' first six games will come two difficult road tests against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles.
In the case of Tampa, you can't have a longer road trip in the NFL, as the two teams will be playing in London. It's a pretty safe bet to say the Bears will be the first team in NFL history to play in three countries in one calendar year, as they played Buffalo in Toronto last season.
The Bucs were hard-luck losers in 2010, missing the playoffs despite posting a strong 10-6 record. Coming off a disastrous 2009 campaign, the Bucs came out of nowhere to contend for the playoffs being led by second-year sensation Josh Freeman. Being able to draft in the middle of the first round despite their impressive record will certainly help Tampa.
The Eagles...well, what more needs to be said about them? The team was one of the most polarizing in the league last year as Michael Vick came out of nowhere to reclaim his spot as a league-wide phenomenon. Vick enjoyed a rebirth last year, though after sustaining some injuries, was not as dominant come playoff time as he was earlier in the year.
Still, these will be two of the harder road games the Bears will have this year, with perhaps only Green Bay and New Orleans being more difficult stops.
The good news is the Bears will have a bye week at Week 8 between these two contests.
The Ugly: Their Final Two Games
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The Bears were able to overcome a very difficult finish to the 2010 season, which helped catapult them into the postseason. Last year the Bears had to play New England, at Minnesota (the week of the roof collapse), the Jets and at Green Bay to finish off that season.
The Bears managed to go 3-1 in that span.
Sadly, the Bears will be closing this season in similar difficult fashion, having to play at Green Bay on Week 16, and finish off their season on New Year's Day playing at Minnesota.
You can argue the Vikings are potentially one of their easier opponents, but I guarantee you they'll be pumped up for a game that could possibly decide whether the Bears go to the playoffs or not.
The same will be said for the Packers, who will get the Bears one week earlier. Last year, their Week 17 clash meant nothing to the Bears and everything to Green Bay. This year, the roles could be reversed. Will the Bears be able to vanquish their bitter rival late in the year?
The Good: The Bread Between the AFC West Sandwich
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One rare occurrence about the Bears schedule is they will be playing all of their AFC West opponents consecutively, during Weeks 11-14. I've never seen this happen with a Bears schedule, and it should be a help as noted earlier that the AFC West is possibly the weakest AFC division.
In between these four contests though are two very winnable games. On Week 10, the Bears will play at home against the Lions. Following their Week 14 drama at Denver, the Bears will host the defending NFC West "champion" Seattle Seahawks, a rematch of the 2010 NFC divisional playoff game.
These are two games the Bears should win, though they said this about their regular-season outing with Seattle last year, a game in which the Bears lost 23-20.
Full Chicago Bears Schedule
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Here is a full listing of the Bears schedule.
Week 1: Atlanta
Week 2: at New Orleans
Week 3: Green Bay
Week 4: Carolina
Week 5: at Detroit
Week 6: Minnesota
Week 7: at Tampa Bay
Week 8: Bye
Week 9: at Philadelphia
Week 10: Detroit
Week 11: San Diego
Week 12: at Oakland
Week 13: Kansas City
Week 14: at Denver
Week 15: Seattle
Week 16: at Green Bay
Week 17: at Minnesota
What Will the Bears Record Be?
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I believe the Bears season could come down to its first three games. If they could manage even one win, I think the Bears will be in decent shape. Here is how I believe the Bears will fare, breaking it down into the groups described through this article.
Weeks 1-3
The Bears need to win one game here. An 0-3 start would be a disaster and could cause so much negative momentum that they blow it against their easier foes that come up. However, a 2-1 start could propel them to fighting for home-field advantage.
Overall Season Prediction: 1-2
Weeks 4-6
With games against three of the weaker NFC teams, the Bears should be able to go 3-0 here and help get the team out of an early-season hole.
Overall Season Prediction: 4-2
Weeks 7-9
This is where the Bears have their two hardest remaining road games. In the Tampa case, they'll be having to travel to London, England. The great news is they have their bye week at a perfect time of the season—in between these games, and smack dab in the middle of the season. The Bears should be able to pull out one of these two games.
Overall Season Prediction: 5-3
Weeks 10-15
With four games against the AFC West sandwiched between home games against Detroit and Seattle, the Bears should be able to do some damage at this part of their schedule. They get lucky in playing the two best AFC West teams, San Diego and Kansas City, at home. I believe the Bears should win five of these six games.
Overall Season Prediction: 10-4
Weeks 16-17
After a favorable schedule, the Bears close their year against their two biggest rivals on the road. With the playoffs possibly hanging in the balance, both teams will bring about their A-games to keep their heated rivals out of the postseason. However, I believe the Bears will win their Week 17 contest against the Vikings.
Overall Season Prediction: 11-5
Second place in the NFC North—a fifth seed in the playoffs.
Final Thoughts
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Having watched the Bears for over 25 years, I cannot remember a schedule as peculiar as this one.
Never have I seen a schedule that opens and closes with such difficulty, nor have I seen one with a stretch of games against so many beatable opponents.
Again, I believe the season comes down to the first three games. Lose all three and the Bears risk slipping up against weaker foes and seeing their season resemble the Houston Texans nose dive of 2010.
However, if they can just win one game, they'll set themselves up for great things.
The one note of caution I tell myself is this: always expect the unexpected in the NFL. The Bears looked like they had one of the harder schedules in football last year with games against the AFC East, NFC East and two games against the high-powered Vikings. We all know how 2010 turned out ultimately.
Still, it should not be discounted the Bears will come back with the core of their team and a returning coaching staff. With the NFL lockout hindering the time players and coaches have together, it will do wonders for this team to come back to something they're already accustomed to.
Between their schedule, familiarity with their system and the rebuilding of both their offensive and defensive lines, I believe the Bears can return to the playoffs in 2011 and possibly join the Packers as one of the best teams in the NFC.
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