The Chicago Bears already know they have one of the toughest schedules (on paper) in the NFL this season. Nine of their games will be against opponents who made the playoffs last season, including both Super Bowl participants. If head coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams wanted to show everybody last year wasn’t a fluke, then the NFL is throwing them a pretty brutal test. Thankfully, not all of it is bad. The franchise just found out it would avoid a significant scheduling landmine this year.
For months, it was known that the league had a massive international schedule planned with games scattered across Europe, Central America, and South America. One of those games would be in Madrid, Spain. It is common knowledge that Chicago is one of the select few franchises with exclusive marketing rights in Spain. It wasn’t difficult to connect the dots. After the season the Bears just had, it was obvious the NFL would want to put them back on the international stage, right?
Nope. News broke that the Madrid game will instead feature the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons.
The Chicago Bears caught a big break on the travel front.
Distance traveled in a given season is a primary talking point for teams. Spending more time on the road can have a draining effect on players after a while. Less distance traveled means a better chance of guys being fresh in December when the game really starts to matter. A round-trip from Chicago to Madrid would’ve added 8,400 miles to the Bears’ travel schedule, especially given the massive time zone differences. If you don’t think something like this matters, just look at the teams with the shortest travel distances from last year. Of the top ten, six of them made the playoffs, including the Bears.
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| Rank | Team | Total Miles | Time Zones Crossed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cincinnati Bengals | 8,753 | 8 |
| 2 | Buffalo Bills* | 10,546 | 2 |
| 3 | Baltimore Ravens | 10,647 | 6 |
| 4 | Detroit Lions | 11,411 | 14 |
| 5 | Chicago Bears* | 12,522 | 18 |
| 6 | New England Patriots* | 12,547 | 4 |
| 7 | Green Bay Packers* | 12,929 | 12 |
| 8 | Cleveland Browns | 15,028 | 18 |
| 9 | Pittsburgh Steelers* | 15,062 | 18 |
| 10 | Carolina Panthers* | 15,645 | 16 |
This is not to say long travel schedules automatically lead to bad seasons, but it certainly makes things a lot tougher. Every little thing can add up during such a grueling four-month march. The Bears at least dodged the international requirement for one more year.
The Bears can now focus on their crucial first matchup.
A full schedule announcement arrives on May 14th. Some games have already started trickling out via leaks. Curiously, none of them has mentioned the Chicago Bears. However, there is rampant speculation that they will be the team to open up the 2026 NFL season in September against the defending champion Seattle Seahawks. It makes sense. Chicago was a good team last year. They come from a major media market and have two rapidly growing personalities that national audiences recognize: Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams.
Watching that Bears offense go toe-to-toe with Seattle’s tough defense is an easy draw for fans. It will certainly be a gigantic opportunity for Chicago. Knocking off the champs in their own building is the ideal momentum-builder for a season. Better still, it would also get one of their longest road trips out of the way since Seattle is farther than any other city they visit this year. They’ll have ten days to rest before their next game. Not a bad way to start the year, especially if they win.
