For the first time since 2016, the Chicago Bears will be squaring off against the AFC South, and, per reports, the NFL is scheduling the first month of the season so that the NFC plays the AFC.
John Clayton of 710 ESPN in Seattle confirmed to USA Today Sports Media Group that this is a league discussion.
.@JohnClaytonNFL tells @937theFan that the NFL schedule will be NFC vs AFC for the 1st 4 weeks of the season. Steelers play the NFC East. So 1st 4 games would be Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, and Giants.
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) May 6, 2020
With the coronavirus pandemic impacting all sports, the NFL is obviously anticipating that the first month of the season may be canceled. And potentially eliminating these four games would do little to the NFC’s playoff implications.
I’ve also seen two other rumors regarding the Bears’ first month. The first being that they will host the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football in Week 4. I’m sure everyone is ready for the Mitchell Trubisky-Deshaun Watson 2017 NFL Draft narratives similar to when the Bears played host to the Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs a year ago.
The other rumor is they will open the season in Jacksonville. That’s particularly interesting because Nick Foles could potentially face the team that traded him, should he be named the starting quarterback.
That would mean the Bears would travel to Tennessee and host the Colts within the first four weeks as well. If you recall, the Titans rode Derrick Henry and a red-hot Ryan Tannehill to the AFC Championship game last season.
The Colts are going to be interesting this season because of their improvement at the quarterback position. Philip Rivers has a 2-2 record against the Bears in his career, including a 17-16 victory at Soldier Field in Week 8 last year.
The NFL will release the full 2020 schedule on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT.
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