The peculiarity of the Bears’ NFC North schedule could be a double-edged sword for Caleb Williams, team

The peculiarity of the Bears’ NFC North schedule could be a double-edged sword for Caleb Williams, team originally appeared in NBC Sports Chicago

The most blatant aspect 2024 Bears schedulereleased on Wednesday, arrives in Week 11 in the form of the Green Bay Packers.

It’s unremarkable that the Packers visit Soldier Field in Week 11. But the fact that the Bears’ first divisional game of the season is against the rival Packers on Nov. 17 is telling.

The NFL has made a concerted effort to try to push back the schedule with as many divisional games as possible to raise the stakes at the end of the season. But it’s rare for a team to not play any divisional games before mid-November.

Six of the Bears’ last eight games have been against NFC North opponents. For comparison, the Packers, Lions and Vikings each have two divisional games to start the season and just four in the final eight.

Head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff will no doubt consider the flurry of shots against divisional opponents as an advantage.

For a franchise whose mission statement is to “Take the North,” their primary goal will remain in front of them even if they walk off the blocks with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

Having all six division games in the final eight will give the Bears a clear path to the division title. To be healthy and peaking at the right timeand you’ll have a puncher’s chance in the division and a playoff spot even if you lose a game or two to lesser opponents early.

However, this “everything is in front of” gift can also place a heavy burden on a young team to be perfect down the stretch if they need to make up ground in the divisional race or wild card chase.

According to analytics guru Warren Sharp, the Bears have the easiest schedule through the first 10 games based on their opponents’ predicted win totals.

The final eight games include a trip to San Francisco, a Thursday night game against the Seahawks and the six divisional games.

If the Bears can’t make hay in the initial portion of the schedule, catching up against the Packers, Lions and 49ers will not be an easy task.

If the Vikings exceed expectations this fall, that could end up being the saving grace of this season for the Bears. But if Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores find a way to manufacture a playoff contender out of a Sam Darnold-JJ McCarthy-led team, the Bears’ closing roster will be much more challenging.

Having the entire division roster delayed will allow the Bears to remain hopeful until November, provided the wheels don’t completely fall off sooner.

But it also underscores the importance of taking care of business during the winnable section of the schedule so that Williams and company have some margin for error in the final eight.

If they can’t do that, it will be very stressful for an unproven squad to be nearly perfect over an eight-game stretch with no clear chance to breathe.

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