Chicago Bears Schedule: 2023 NFL Games, Strength Of Schedule, Fantasy Outlooks

The Chicago Bears have the 18th-most difficult schedule heading into the 2023 NFL season. That's going by the combined winning percentage of teams on their schedule in 2022. But it's an easier schedule if you look at other metrics.

According to Warren Sharp's model, the Bears actually have the easiest schedule of all NFC North teams. Will this help the Bears over-perform in 2023?

How will the road ahead affect the outcome of their season? How will it impact the fantasy football players on their squad? Let's take a look and examine this further.

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How Tough Is The Bears' 2023 Schedule?

The Bears play each of the NFC South opponents and each of the AFC West opponents, as well as their NFC North division rivals. The NFC South is one of the worst divisions in football, so that's good for the Bears, but the AFC West could be tough. The Kansas City Chiefs, of course, won the Super Bowl, the Los Angeles Chargers made the playoffs, and the Denver Broncos were supposed to be a playoff contender!

So if you combine the 2022 records of every team the Bears are slated to play this season, the teams won 143 games, lost 145, and tied one, for a .497 record. The 143 wins is equal to the number of wins the Vikings' and Lions' 2022 opponents achieved.

But if you look at the projected 2023 win totals of each of the opponents on the Bears' schedule, you see that their schedule is much easier than average and easier than the Lions, Vikings, or Packers. What might be the reason for the disparity between the two methods of analyzing strength of schedule? It is due in part to the fact that the Vikings and Packers are expected to win fewer games this season than they did last season. The Vikings won a bunch of games by one possession, a streak of luck that isn't expected to continue, and the Packers lost Aaron Rodgers. Both teams could be worse than last season.

2023 Bears Schedule Analysis for Fantasy Football

The Bears' schedule doesn't include many of the NFL's elite defenses. They don't face the 49ers, the Jets, the Ravens, the Bills, or the Eagles. Amongst the top-ten scoring defenses of 2022, the Bears only face one, the New Orleans Saints (No. 9), in Week 9. The Saints are also the only team ranking in the top ten in total yards allowed that the Bears face.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Bears face the two teams that allowed the most total yards in 2022, the Vikings and the Lions, twice. The Packers, whose defense is the best in the NFC North, play one of their matchups against the Bears in Week 18, so it is conveniently not on the Bears' schedule.

Justin Fields is going to be one of the most highly-drafted quarterbacks in redraft leagues. He should have another great fantasy season. He should be cooking from Week 1. Last season, it took a couple of weeks for the Bears to figure out how to use him. Now Fields has more weapons, including former Panthers wide receiver D.J. Moore, to work with. In Weeks 16 and 17, he faces the Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons. The Cardinals and Falcons both ranked below average in terms of defending the pass last season. The Cardinals allowed 4,133 passing yards to quarterbacks, the ninth-most.

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