Toughest Games on the 2011 Schedule for the Chicago Bears

Thirty-seven days from now, Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears will begin the most difficult opening three weeks of any team in the National Football League.

The Bears open up with the Falcons, Saints and Packers—three of the projected top four teams in the NFC according to Las Vegas oddsmakers.

Now let's dive in a little deeper on the three aforementioned matchups along with a few other stiff challenges the Bears will be faced with in 2011. 

Week 2: New Orleans Saints (Away)

In Week 2, the Bears travel to New Orleans to take on Drew Brees and the Saints, a team they've beaten four straight times dating back to 2005.  

The Bears will have to rely heavily on their defense to slow down Sean Payton's high-powered offense on the fast track of the Louisiana Superdome.

If the Bears defense allow Brees to dink and dunk his way down the field like he loves to do, they could be staring at a 0-2 start to their season.  

Week 1: Atlanta Falcons (Home)

The Bears will be looking to avenge back-to-back losses in 2008 and 2009 when they open up the 2011 season at home versus Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons.

Many Bears fans (myself included) still haven't recovered from one of the all-time choke jobs in NFL history when the Bears took the lead with 11 seconds left and still managed to lose the game.

I anticipate the Bears finally exacting their revenge behind a raucous home crowd hoping to erase last year's NFC title game from their collective memory.

Week 10: San Diego Chargers (Home)

The Bears host Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers in Week 10, the same Chargers team they were embarrassed by in Week 1 of the 2007 season following their last Super Bowl appearance.  

Expect a much different outcome this time around as the Bears will be looking to make their playoff push in the second half of the season. 

Week 8: Philadelphia Eagles (Away)

In Week 8, the Bears will travel to Philadelphia to take on Michael Vick and the Eagles on Monday Night Football.

The Bears defeated the Eagles in 2010 and will likely face a much more difficult task this time around considering all of the recent upgrades in Philadelphia during the free agency period.

Green Bay Packers: Week 3 (Home) and Week 15 (Away)

Unfortunately for the Bears and the other members of the NFC North, the rules say they have to face Aaron Rodgers and the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers twice.

If the Bears plan on splitting with the Packers in 2011, they'll likely need to take care of business at home in Week 3 as opposed to the Christmas Day matchup in Green Bay.

These two games will likely decide the winner of the NFC North and possibly much more in terms of playoff seeding and first-round byes.

Recap and Predictions

Just to recap real quick, let's take a look at the list of opposing quarterbacks the Bears will face in 2011: Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, Michael Vick and Aaron Rodgers (twice).

Anyone care to add up the total number of Pro Bowl appearances in that group or can you also not count that high?

If the Bears can somehow manage to go 3-3 in those six games, they could be looking at a 10-12 win season.

I'll take the middle and predict the Bears will finish the season 11-5 while earning a wild-card berth for the NFC Playoffs.  

It's hard to see the Packers finishing any worse than 12-4, especially when you consider all of the injured players from 2010 that will finally be healthy this season.

My predictions for the NFC playoff teams in 2011 were almost entirely represented in this slideshow but I guess they are still planning on letting someone in from the NFC West again this year:

From top to bottom, I think it shakes out as follows in the NFC:

1.  Green Bay Packers 14-2

2.  Philadelphia Eagles 13-3

3.  Arizona Cardinals 8-8 (or maybe another 7-9 representative from the NFC West?)

4.  Atlanta Falcons 12-4

5.  Chicago Bears 11-5

6.  New Orleans Saints 10-6

See you in five weeks!