Bears’ scariest pitfall to overcome on 2024 NFL schedule

With the release of all 32 NFL teams’ schedules, teams like the Chicago Bears now know what lies ahead of them for the upcoming 2024 season.

But when it comes to the 2024 Bears, many might not know what they’re getting. This will be a much different-looking team than the one that took the field a season ago. For one, quarterback Justin Fields is long gone, traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. In to replace him is No. 1 overall pick from the 2024 NFL Draft, Caleb Williams.

Williams, understandably so, brings with him a ton of hype and expectation, even if he will be just a rookie. Not that it’s difficult to accomplish, but most are hoping he will be the best quarterback the team has seen in decades, if not ever.

With him comes fellow first-round draft pick, Rome Odunze, who was drafted at No. 9 overall. Though the Bears didn’t have many draft picks this year, the ones they did have (for the most part), they made the most of them, especially with their two first-rounders.

But who can forget what the Bears did once free agency started. By having the luxury of holding the No. 1 pick, they knew well in advance that Williams would be their guy, so they decided to build around him by signing running back D’Andre Swift and then trading for wide receiver Keenan Allen.

This new-look offense will now complement a defense that kept them in a lot of games last season, where they finished 7-10. Now all that’s left is for Chicago to hit the field and play. But how will this new Bears team handle the schedule?

The Bears have one of the easier 2024 NFL schedules

Beginning the season with a rookie quarterback is never going to be easy for a team, no matter how talented the prospect is. Not every quarterback entering the league can be CJ Stroud from last season. But if anyone can do it, Williams probably can.

When you add on top of that the pressure that third-year head coach Matt Eberflus is facing this upcoming season, things could get a little hectic. At least it bodes well for both Williams and Eberflus that the Bears have the third-easiest schedule in the NFL based on projected win totals, per Sharp Football Analysis.

Part of that is because the Bears’ new signal caller gets to prove he’s the best out of all the rookie quarterbacks drafted this year when he will more than likely get to face all of them. The Bears have games against the Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, and Minnesota Vikings twice, all of which are schedule helpers.

They’ll begin their season with three out of their first five games at home at Soldier Field, including the opener against a new-look Tennessee Titans team. That gives Williams a chance to get his feet wet in front of what should be an exuberant Chicago crowd that had been awaiting his arrival since the draft.

But over the last couple of seasons, the Bears have been a different team on the road. Can Williams and the new offense change that in 2024?

How will Caleb Williams, Matt Eberflus, and the Bears handle road games?

Since he arrived back in 2022 from the Indianapolis Colts, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is 10-24. He did improve the Bears’ win total last season by four games with a third-place finish in the NFC North. But what has become troubling about Eberflus’ tenure in Chicago is that he and the Bears cannot find ways to win on the road.

In 17 road games in two seasons, the Bears are just 3-14, per StatMuse. Five of those were losses by double digits.

Now you’re asking Eberflus to take a rookie quarterback on the road for half the schedule to change this narrative. But looking at both his time at Oklahoma and USC, Williams hasn’t been great away from home either. Excluding neutral site games, of the eight losses he suffered in college, five were away games.

This is why starting with Week 13, the Thanksgiving game versus the AFC North rival Lions in Detroit, could be the beginning of the most difficult part of the season for the Bears.

Granted, at least the Bears can be thankful that the Lions haven’t won a game on Thanksgiving since 2016. But this will be three straight road games, with the next two against the 49ers and Vikings. And then after two back-to-back home games, the Bears get to end their season in Green Bay, which could have NFC playoff implications.