Chicago Bears Schedule 2026: Printable PDF, Times, TV Channels
The Chicago Bears schedule 2026 opens on the road. Chicago plays at the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, September 13 at 1:00 PM ET on FOX, then comes home a week later to face the Minnesota Vikings in the Soldier Field opener.
The headline dates sit late in the year. The Bears play at Detroit on Thanksgiving, November 26, and host Green Bay on Christmas Day, December 25, in a game that streams on Netflix. Two holidays, two NFC North rivals, four weeks apart.
Chicago is coming off an 11-6 season, an NFC North title and its first playoff win since the 2010 season, all in Ben Johnson’s first year as head coach.
Below is every date, kickoff time and TV channel for the season ahead, plus a free printable schedule and a wall calendar sized for US Letter paper.
Jump to: Preseason Schedule | TV Schedule | Kickoff Times | Printable Schedule | Wall Calendar | Bye Week
Chicago Bears Schedule 2026 Quick Facts
| Season opener | Sun, Sep 13 at Carolina Panthers, 1:00 PM ET (FOX) |
| Home opener | Sun, Sep 20 vs Minnesota Vikings, 1:00 PM ET (FOX) |
| Season span | September 2026 through January 2027 |
| Stadium | Soldier Field, Chicago, IL (about 61,500 for football) |
| Head coach | Ben Johnson (2nd season, hired January 21, 2025) |
| Offensive coordinator | Press Taylor |
| Defensive coordinator | Dennis Allen |
| Quarterback | Caleb Williams (3rd season) |
| Division | NFC North |
| Home / road games | 9 / 8 |
| Bye week | Week 10, weekend of November 15 |
| Prime time games | 5 (Weeks 3, 7, 8, 9 and 15) |
| Networks | FOX 8, CBS 3, ABC/ESPN 1, ESPN 1, NBC 1, Prime Video 1, Netflix 1, TBD 1 |
| Holiday games | Thanksgiving at Detroit, Christmas Day vs Green Bay |
| International games | None |
| Radio | ESPN 1000 (WMVP-AM), Spanish on WVIV |
| 2025 season | 11-6, NFC North champions, lost in overtime in the divisional round |
Chicago Bears Schedule 2026: Every Date and TV Channel
Home games are marked “vs” and road games “at.” Times are Eastern, so subtract one hour for the Bears’ own Central clock.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Time (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun, Sep 13 | at Carolina Panthers | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 2 | Sun, Sep 20 | vs Minnesota Vikings | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 3 | Mon, Sep 28 | vs Philadelphia Eagles | 8:15 PM | ABC/ESPN |
| 4 | Sun, Oct 4 | vs New York Jets | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 5 | Sun, Oct 11 | at Green Bay Packers | 4:25 PM | FOX |
| 6 | Sun, Oct 18 | at Atlanta Falcons | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 7 | Thu, Oct 22 | vs New England Patriots | 8:15 PM | Prime Video |
| 8 | Mon, Nov 2 | at Seattle Seahawks | 8:15 PM | ESPN |
| 9 | Sun, Nov 8 | vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 8:20 PM | NBC |
| 10 | BYE WEEK | |||
| 11 | Sun, Nov 22 | vs New Orleans Saints | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 12 | Thu, Nov 26 | at Detroit Lions | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| 13 | Sun, Dec 6 | vs Jacksonville Jaguars | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 14 | Sun, Dec 13 | at Miami Dolphins | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| 15 | Sat, Dec 19 | at Buffalo Bills | 8:20 PM | CBS |
| 16 | Fri, Dec 25 | vs Green Bay Packers | 1:00 PM | Netflix |
| 17 | Sun, Jan 3 | vs Detroit Lions | 4:25 PM | FOX |
| 18 | Jan 9 or 10 | at Minnesota Vikings | TBD | TBD |
One date on the Chicago Bears schedule 2026 stays open. Week 18 at the Minnesota Vikings lands on Saturday, January 9 or Sunday, January 10, 2027, and the league fixes it in late December. Sunday afternoon kickoffs from Week 5 on can also move under flexible scheduling, so treat the 1:00 PM slots as provisional until game week.
The shape of the year is front loaded at home. Five of the first nine games are at Soldier Field, then Weeks 12 to 15 bring three road trips in four weeks. All six division games are split evenly, three at home and three away, and the closing four weeks are pure NFC North apart from the Saturday night trip to Buffalo.
Also Check: NFL TV Schedule Today
Bears Preseason Schedule 2026
Only the opener is at Soldier Field. The other two 2026 NFL preseason games are road trips to AFC opponents.
| Game | Date | Opponent | Time (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat, Aug 15 | vs Cleveland Browns | 1:00 PM | FOX 32 |
| 2 | Sat, Aug 22 | at Cincinnati Bengals | 7:00 PM | FOX 32 |
| 3 | Sat, Aug 29 | at Tennessee Titans | 6:00 PM | FOX 32 |
All three air locally on FOX 32 through the Chicago Bears Network, with ESPN 1000 on radio. The finale in Tennessee also carries nationally on NFL Network.
Starters usually play limited snaps, so the August 15 visit from the Cleveland Browns is the cheapest way into Soldier Field all year.
What Channel is the Bears Game On? TV Schedule
FOX carries almost half the season, which is standard for an NFC club. What is not standard is the spread at the other end: six different broadcasters split the remaining nine games.
| Network | Games | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| FOX | 8 | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 17 |
| CBS | 3 | 12, 14, 15 |
| ABC/ESPN | 1 | 3 |
| ESPN | 1 | 8 |
| NBC | 1 | 9 |
| Prime Video | 1 | 7 |
| Netflix | 1 | 16 |
| TBD | 1 | 18 |
Three things to know:
- Thirteen of the 17 games are free over the air. FOX, CBS, NBC and ABC cover everything except Week 7 on Prime Video, Week 8 on ESPN and Week 16 on Netflix, plus the undated Week 18. A digital antenna in the Chicago market handles the rest at no cost.
- Week 8 is ESPN only. The Monday night trip to Seattle does not get the ABC simulcast that the Week 3 game against Philadelphia does, so it needs cable or an ESPN subscription. The Thursday night home game in Week 7 does carry a free local simulcast in both participating markets.
- Flex scheduling can still redraw this. Sunday night can be flexed up to twice in Weeks 5 to 10 and in any week from 11 to 17. Monday night is eligible from Week 12, and Thursday night up to twice between Weeks 13 and 17. A December run would put the Week 13 or Week 17 kickoff at risk of a move.
ESPN 1000 (WMVP-AM) is the flagship radio home and carries every game, preseason included. Out of market fans can pick up the Sunday afternoon FOX and CBS games through NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube.
Bears Kickoff Times in Every Time Zone
Four kickoff windows cover the whole regular season. Central is the Chicago column.
| Eastern | Central (Chicago) | Mountain | Pacific |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:00 PM | 12:00 PM | 11:00 AM | 10:00 AM |
| 4:25 PM | 3:25 PM | 2:25 PM | 1:25 PM |
| 8:15 PM | 7:15 PM | 6:15 PM | 5:15 PM |
| 8:20 PM | 7:20 PM | 6:20 PM | 5:20 PM |
Nine of the 17 games kick at noon Chicago time, so most Bears Sundays start at the same hour. Travel is the harder part. Only two of the eight road trips stay in the Central zone, at Green Bay in Week 5 and at Minnesota in Week 18. The other six leave it: Carolina, Atlanta, Detroit, Miami and Buffalo are Eastern, and Seattle in Week 8 is the lone Pacific trip.
Daylight saving ends on Sunday, November 1, 2026, which falls between Week 8 and Week 9. Every game from the Seattle trip onward is on standard time. Arizona does not observe daylight saving, so Phoenix viewers match Pacific times through October and Mountain times from November.
Free Printable Chicago Bears Schedule 2026 (PDF)
The full Chicago Bears schedule 2026 on one page: three preseason games and all 18 regular season weeks with dates, opponents, kickoff times and TV channels. Home games print in bold so the nine Soldier Field dates stand out, and every row leaves a blank box for the score.
The strip across the top carries the 9 and 8 home and road split, the Week 10 bye, Soldier Field and Ben Johnson. The notes panel flags what a table cannot: that only Chicago and Buffalo play on both Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Netflix broadcast, the first trip to the new Highmark Stadium, the five prime time kickoffs and the fact that only two road trips stay on Chicago time. Sized for US Letter paper at 8.5 by 11 inches, free, with no sign up or email required.
Want every club on one page? Get the full 2026 NFL schedule with all 32 teams, week by week.
Bears 2026 Wall Calendar Printable (PDF)
Prefer month grids? This version runs August 2026 through January 2027. Soldier Field dates are filled in Bears navy, road dates are outlined in orange, preseason squares are tagged PRE, and each square carries the opponent and kickoff time.
December is the month to pin up. Four squares fill it, three of them inside 13 days, including the Saturday night trip to Buffalo on the 19th and the Christmas Day game against Green Bay on the 25th. January holds one square on the 3rd and waits for the league to date the finale in Minnesota. Also US Letter, also free.
Printing tip: pick “Actual size” or “100%” instead of “Fit to page” so the small type stays sharp.
Thanksgiving and Christmas in the Same Season
Chicago and Buffalo are the only two clubs playing on both Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2026. For the Bears, both games are against NFC North rivals.
Thanksgiving comes first. The Bears travel to Ford Field on Thursday, November 26 for the early game against the Detroit Lions, kicking at 1:00 PM ET on CBS. Note the time: the league moved the Thanksgiving opener off the old 12:30 slot, so this is a 1:00 PM start, not 12:30. It follows a short week off the Week 11 home game against New Orleans, and it is Ben Johnson’s return to the building where he ran the offence from 2022 to 2024.
Christmas Day is the bigger occasion. The Green Bay Packers visit Soldier Field on Friday, December 25 at 1:00 PM ET on Netflix, which carries two of the three Christmas games. The oldest rivalry in the league gets a global streaming window and a holiday audience, and it is the second of the two meetings, the first being the Week 5 trip to Lambeau Field.
Between them sits the Saturday night trip to Buffalo on December 19, the Bears’ first game at the new Highmark Stadium, which opened for the 2026 season. That makes three non Sunday games inside 30 days. Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday, not the usual Thursday holiday slot.
Year Two Under Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson took over on January 21, 2025 as the 18th full time head coach in franchise history. His first season delivered the club’s first NFC North title since 2018 and its first playoff win in 15 years.
Chicago finished 11-6, won the division and took the number two seed. In the wild card round the Bears came back from 21-3 down to beat Green Bay 31-27 at Soldier Field, their largest playoff comeback since 1933 and their first postseason win over the Packers since 1941. A week later they lost 20-17 to the Los Angeles Rams in overtime, again at Soldier Field. Johnson became the first Bears head coach to win a playoff game in his opening year.
The numbers behind it were an offence that scored 441 points, the third highest total in club history, and gave the ball away just 11 times, fewest in the league. Caleb Williams threw for 3,942 yards, breaking Erik Kramer’s franchise single season record and becoming the first Bears quarterback past 3,900.
The 2026 schedule tests that quickly. Philadelphia visits on Monday night in Week 3, and the middle of the season runs Green Bay, Atlanta, New England, Seattle and Tampa Bay in five straight weeks before the bye. The offseason also wrote a reunion into the card: receiver DJ Moore was traded to Buffalo in March, and Chicago visits Buffalo in Week 15.
Soldier Field and the Stadium Question
All nine home dates are at Soldier Field, where the Bears have played since 1971. The stadium opened in 1924, was rebuilt inside its original colonnades in 2003 and seats roughly 61,500 for football, among the smallest capacities in the league. It is owned by the Chicago Park District, not the club.
Where the Bears play next is genuinely unsettled. In June 2026 the club’s board voted to advance a stadium project in Hammond, Indiana, after Indiana enacted an enabling law in February. Illinois lawmakers passed no stadium bill in the spring session, and the Bears still own the 326 acre former Arlington International Racecourse site they bought in February 2023.
No site has been finalised and no ground has been broken. The Soldier Field lease runs to 2033 with an early exit available from 2026. None of it changes this season: every home kickoff on this page is on the lakefront, and the open air dates against New Orleans, Jacksonville, Green Bay and Detroit are the ones to dress for.
When is the Bears Bye Week in 2026?
Week 10, the weekend of November 15. Nine games come before the break and eight after it, so the season splits almost exactly down the middle.
The timing is useful. The bye lands right after a five game stretch that includes two road trips and three prime time kickoffs, and it sets up the Thanksgiving short week that follows. Chicago gets two full weeks between the Sunday night game against Tampa Bay on November 8 and the home game against New Orleans on November 22.
Compare every club on our NFL bye weeks page.
Bears 2026 Coaching Staff and Key Players
Continuity at the top, one change on the offensive staff.
- Ben Johnson returns for his second season as head coach and keeps play calling duties on offence. General manager Ryan Poles stays, as does president and CEO Kevin Warren.
- Press Taylor steps up to offensive coordinator after one season as Chicago’s pass game coordinator. He was the Jacksonville offensive coordinator from 2022 to 2024 and coached quarterbacks in Philadelphia. He replaces Declan Doyle, who left for Baltimore.
- Dennis Allen enters his second season as defensive coordinator, having been head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2022 to 2024. He faces his old club in Week 11. Richard Hightower begins a fifth season running special teams.
- Caleb Williams starts his third season holding the franchise single season passing record, and added a club postseason record of 361 yards in the wild card win over Green Bay. Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum back him up. Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III and tight end Colston Loveland are the main targets around him after DJ Moore was traded to Buffalo in March.
- The line and secondary were the offseason priorities. Right tackle Darnell Wright, a second team All-Pro in 2025, signed a four year extension in August, centre Garrett Bradbury arrived by trade from New England, and safety Dillon Thieneman was the 25th pick of the 2026 draft.
How to Get Chicago Bears Tickets
Home tickets run through the official Bears ticket page, which routes single game sales to Ticketmaster, the NFL’s ticketing partner. Verified resale is available on StubHub, SeatGeek and Vivid Seats, and the Soldier Field box office sells in person on game weeks.
Three dates price highest: Christmas Day against Green Bay, the Monday night game against Philadelphia in Week 3 and the Week 17 meeting with Detroit. The Week 13 game against Jacksonville is the value pick, a noon Sunday against a non conference opponent. Holiday inventory moves first, so buy the Christmas game early if it matters to you.
Chicago Bears Schedule 2026 FAQ
When do the Bears play their first game in 2026?
Sunday, September 13, 2026 at the Carolina Panthers, 1:00 PM ET on FOX. The home opener follows a week later, on Sunday, September 20 against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field, also 1:00 PM ET on FOX.
Where can I get a free printable Chicago Bears schedule 2026?
Use the download buttons above. The printable is a one page US Letter PDF with all three preseason games and all 18 regular season weeks, including dates, kickoff times, TV channels and a blank box for each result. A wall calendar version covering August 2026 through January 2027 is also available. Both are free with no sign up or email required.
What channel are Chicago Bears games on in 2026?
FOX carries 8 games and CBS has 3. ABC and ESPN share the Week 3 Monday night game, ESPN has Week 8 on its own, NBC has the Week 9 Sunday night game, Prime Video has Week 7 on Thursday and Netflix has the Christmas Day game in Week 16. Week 18 is still TBD. Preseason games air locally on FOX 32, and ESPN 1000 is the flagship radio station.
When is the Bears bye week in 2026?
Week 10, the weekend of November 15. Chicago plays nine games before the break and eight after it. The bye sits between the Sunday night home game against Tampa Bay on November 8 and the home game against New Orleans on November 22, a full two weeks between kickoffs.
Do the Bears play on Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2026?
Yes, both. Chicago and Buffalo are the only two clubs playing on Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2026. The Bears are at the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26 at 1:00 PM ET on CBS, and host the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day, Friday, December 25 at 1:00 PM ET on Netflix. Both are NFC North games.
How many prime time games do the Bears have in 2026?
Five. Week 3 against Philadelphia on Monday night on ABC and ESPN, Week 7 against New England on Thursday night on Prime Video, Week 8 at Seattle on Monday night on ESPN, Week 9 against Tampa Bay on Sunday night on NBC and Week 15 at Buffalo on Saturday night on CBS. Three of them fall in consecutive weeks, 7, 8 and 9.
Who is the Chicago Bears head coach in 2026?
Ben Johnson, in his second season. He was hired on January 21, 2025 as the 18th full time head coach in franchise history and led Chicago to an 11-6 record, the NFC North title and a wild card win over Green Bay in his first year. Press Taylor is the offensive coordinator and Dennis Allen runs the defence.
How many Super Bowls have the Chicago Bears won?
One. The Bears beat the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX in January 1986. The 2026 season marks 40 years since that title. Counting the pre Super Bowl era, Chicago has nine NFL championships in total, second only to Green Bay.
The Chicago Bears schedule 2026 asks a rising team to prove last season was real. Nine home dates, a bye in the middle, five prime time kickoffs and a December that runs through Buffalo, Green Bay on Christmas Day and Detroit in the finale.
Bookmark this page for kickoff times and TV channels, and grab the free printable PDF above to keep the full slate in front of you.
Last Updated: August 11, 2026.
