We already know that the Chicago Bears will be making their first postseason appearance since 2020. And when they take the field in the playoffs, they will do so as NFC North champions for the first time since 2018. That means the Bears will play a home game as they set out on their Super Bowl journey. However, we do not know who will be on the other sideline in that matchup.
But we do have a pretty good idea of who it could be.
Potential Chicago Bears Playoff Opponents
LOS ANGE...
Chicago’s rookie wideout, Luther Burden III, earned a well-deserved place on ESPN analyst Ben Solak’s 2025 All-Rookie Team , joining the league’s best first-year players in a season that saw the rookie emerge as one of the Bears’ most dynamic playmakers. Burden was accompanied by Panthers rookie Tetairoa McMillan and Bucs rookie Emeka Egbuka on Solak’s list.
Solak highlighted Burden’s growth throughout the year, noting that while it took time for him to find a consistent role in Ben Johns...
With just one week remaining in the NFL’s regular season, a big chunk of the draft order is nearly set. So, let’s run through another 2026 NFL Mock Draft .
Who will the Raiders take as the new team at the top of the draft board? What will the Chiefs do with a top ten pick? Can the Bears add an impact defender late in the first round?
Let’s get to it.
2026 NFL Mock Draft
1. Las Vegas Raiders: QB Fernando Mendoza – Indiana
After losing (or winning?) the Tank Bowl with th...
The San Francisco 49ers beat the Chicago Bears in a thriller on Sunday night, winning on the final play of scrimmage with a defensive stand to keep their No. 1 seed hopes alive heading into Week 18. It was a shootout from the start, as the score was 14 apiece after one quarter and 28-21 […]
The Chicago Bears faced off with the San Francisco 49ers on the road, and although they came up short, they didn’t go down without a fight. This 42-38 loss to the 49ers consisted of exhilarating, inspired football from both offenses during Sunday Night Football as they went toe to toe in a shootout. The Bears […]
THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL BEARSSSSSS Ben Johnson: Bears are ‘playing to win,’ focused on clinching No. 2 seed against Lions in regular-season finale – 670 The ScoreBears head coach Ben Johnson made it clear that his team won’t hold back in any way against the Lions on Sunday in their regular-season finale. Ben Johnson says […]
The Chicago Bears (11-5) are set for a home NFC North clash with the Detroit Lions (8-8) on Sunday, January 4, 2026 at Soldier Field.
Where to Buy Bears vs. Lions Tickets
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Bears vs. Lions Game Info
When: Sunday, January 4, 2026 at 4:25 p.m. ET
Where: Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois
TV info: FOX
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The Bears have already clinched the NFC North, and they’ve secured home-field advantage in at least the first round of the upcoming playoffs. That said, it was still unfortunate that their dreams of securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC came to an end with their 42-38 loss to the 49ers. You could probably […]
There’s a slight part of me that doesn’t want the Atlanta Falcons to beat the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football. It would mean that the Seattle Seahawks were literally a few yards away from clinching the NFC West title through the Rams and San Francisco 49ers losing, but the Chicago Bears couldn’t seal […]
That game didn’t go as hoped, but I, along with many others, came away feeling pretty good about the Chicago Bears. They fell a play short against the San Francisco 49ers, but rookies Colston Loveland (21 years old) and Luther Burden III (22) combined for 14 catches, 233 yards, and two touchdowns. Caleb Williams (24) […]
If you were hoping if Ben Johnson would play his starters in Week 18 against the Detroit Lions, then I think you might be pleased with what the Bears head coach had to say on Monday:
Ben Johnson on the Bears' intentions to play for the No. 2 seed: "We're playing to win this week." — Chris Emma (@CEmma670) December 29, 2025
“We’re playing to win this week” isn’t as direct of an answer as I’d like, but it is one that clues us in on the team’s plans heading into the Chicago Bears’...
Of course Luther Burden III earned the best Bears player grade in Week 17.
Heck, Pro Football Focus had Luther Burden with the best initial grade of any player who suited up in that game. So with all due respect to quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Brock Purdy, the Sunday Night Football shootout between the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers was a Burden coming out party. The rookie wide receiver saw a season-high nine targets and turned it into a season-best line of eight catches, 138 r...
After giving up over 300 rushing yards to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, the Green Bay Packers claimed defensive tackle Jonathan Ford off waivers on Monday. Ford was originally drafted by the Packers in 2022 in the seventh round. He spent three years with the team, but never played in a regular-season game for Green […]
History is staring Caleb Williams in the face as the Chicago Bears head into Week 18.
With one game left on the regular-season schedule, Williams is on the doorstep of rewriting a franchise passing record book that has stood largely untouched for decades. He needs 109 passing yards to break Erik Kramer’s single-season passing yardage record (3,838 in 1995) and 270 yards to become the first 4,000-yard passer in Bears history. On top of that, Williams sits at 25 passing touchdowns, four shy...
You can’t win them all, but the Chicago Bears certainly gave the San Francisco 49ers a scare on Sunday night in Santa Clara, California. In one of the toughest games on their 2025 schedule, the Bears came out with tons of firepower but ultimately fell just two yards (and a few seconds) short in a […]
Any Eagles fan who watched the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears go up and down the field in a wildly entertaining game on Sunday Night Football this week, won by the Niners 42-38, had to wonder if they were watching a different sport. There was 936 yards of total offense. The teams combined for […]
As we say hello to the final week of the NFL regular season, the playoff picture in the NFC North is almost set in stone — and it’s the Chicago Bears sitting comfortably at the top. Chicago has already clinched the division crown, while the Lions and Vikings have been eliminated from postseason contention. The Green Bay Packers, meanwhile, are locked into the No. 7 seed, leaving very little mystery about who is getting in — only where everyone will land.
EPISODE NO. 15 OF THE BN BEARS POD...
The Bears fall 42-38 to the 49ers in a nationally televised instant classic , and the crew breaks it all down on the Bleacher Nation Bears Podcast, presented by Obvious Shirts .
Hosts Patrick Flowers, Matt Rooney, and Luis Medina react to a game that felt like a full-blown track meet — one that ended with the ball in Caleb Williams’ hands at the 2-yard line, one play deciding everything. It’s the exact scenario Bears fans have imagined for decades, and even in defeat, it felt like a defi...
Caleb Williams almost pulled another rabbit out of his hat in Week 17. And while it could be easy to point fingers or play the woulda, coulda, shoulda game with the final play of the Week 17 thriller between the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football, it was Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson who pointed the finger inward when discussing what happened on that fateful play.
“We didn’t quite get aligned in the formation we wanted to,” Johnson said via the Bears’ official w...
It was fitting that, in a season defined by the 49ers’ ability to overcome injury adversity, they were forced to produce one of their best offensive performances of the season in a must-win game without two of their most important players on that side of the ball. On paper, losing Trent Williams to a hamstring […]
The final score wasn’t exactly what we hoped for, but the Bears and 49ers played one heck of a football game. No, Ben Johnson’s team wasn’t able to pull off its seventh come-from-behind victory with less than two minutes left this season, but what they did do is establish that they can hang with anyone they’ll come across in the playoffs on a given day.
That doesn’t mean the Bears aren’t flawed. They are. The defense thrives on taking the ball away and struggles mightily when it doesn’t. ...
If you’re wondering whether the Detroit Lions are going to play all of their starter in a “meaningless” Week 18 game against the Chicago Bears, coach Dan Campbell gave a resounding… maybe? Unsurprisingly, Campbell mentioned that the game can say a lot about a team’s set of players, and it’s the standard in Detroit to […]
In one of the most entertaining games of the year, the Chicago Bears fell short in the final seconds to lose to the San Francisco 49ers 38-42. Here are my notes from the wild shootout. Offense: Defense: Special Teams:
The San Francisco 49ers have scored over 40 points in three of their previous six games, and they scored 37 in one of those games. The offense is operating at a level that rivals its 2023 second-half stretch. The quarterback is healthy and using his entire skill set. The running game has finally caught up […]
The Chicago Bears looked discombobulated on the final play of the game. San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said he “thought about” calling a timeout, but “Wanted to see the look and then they just went fast and let it ride.” Linebacker Tatum Bethune told the 49ers broadcast that he and Dee Winters were […]