Greg Gabriel thinks the NFL did the Bears a solid by setting the schedule up as it did.

Every Chicago Bears fan has known for months who the Bears’ opponents for the 2024 season would be, what we didn’t know until last night was when they would play each of those opponents. When the League puts the schedule together, it always has a bit of a hidden agenda for each team. When I looked at the Bears’ schedule when it came out last night, two things popped into my mind right away.

The Chicago Bears are supposed to be an ascending team based on the way they finished the 2023 season and with the off-season acquisitions. With a new quarterback in Caleb Williams and several new faces, the Bears could very well be a team that finishes the season much like last year.

If that happens to be the case, the way the schedule is set up works out perfectly for the Bears. The key to winning a division title and making the Playoffs is to first beat your Divisional opponents. The Bears don’t play a division rival until Week 11 of the schedule when they host Green Bay. Not only has the League had the Bears wait to play other clubs in their Division, but they play all six Division games in the final eight weeks of the season. If the Chicago Bears are as good as we all hope they will be, we will surely find out in November and December. The season finale at Green Bay on January 5th could very well be a game that determines whether or not the Bears make the Playoffs in 2024.

The other thing that jumped out at me immediately was who the actual opponents are in the first five weeks of the season. Last year in the 2023 Draft, the first three quarterbacks taken were Bryce Young first overall to Carolina, C.J. Stroud went second to the Texans and Anthony Richardson went fourth overall to the Colts. Then, early in the second round, the Titans took Will Levis.

As we all know, Stroud had one of the best rookie QB seasons ever, leading the Houston Texans to the Playoffs. Levis did not become a starter until about midway through the season but played very well the rest of the way and showed he was going to be a heck of an NFL quarterback.

Young struggled in Carolina, but much of the reasoning was that Carolina’s roster had to be one of the worst in the League. In Indianapolis, Richardson started out well before an injury finished his season. While he had to sit and learn for much of his rookie year, he is ready to go this year, and many expect the Colts to be a very good team.

As the world knows, the Chicago Bears took USC’s Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in this year’s Draft. Williams has been said to be the best quarterback coming into the League since Andrew Luck in 2012. Many have also referred to him as a “generational” talent. If that turns out to be the case, the Chicago Bears are going to be a team to be reckoned with for years to come.

What the League did in putting together the schedule is have Williams play all the young guns from the 2023 Draft in the first five weeks of the season.

The Bears open at home against Tennessee, which is, of course, led by Levis. It’s a good way to see right away just how good Williams is because he is going up against a second-year quarterback who had a very strong rookie season.

Next week, the Bears play against a tough opponent in Houston. The game also has a Stroud vs. Williams billing: The second-year phenom vs. the so-called best quarterback to come into the League in the last 12 years. We will find out just how good Caleb Williams is very early in the season.

In week three, the Bears travel to Indianapolis, which, of course, is led by Anthony Richardson. It’s the third game in a row that the Bears have played a club that used a top pick to select a quarterback.

Week four has the Bears playing at home versus the Rams, but the following week, the Bears host the Carolina Panthers, who have last year’s first overall pick in Bryce Young. What makes it more ironic is that the Bears traded last March with Carolina, which gave the Panthers the opportunity to select Young. The trade also gave the Bears the first overall pick in this Draft, in which they selected Williams. So it’s #1 from 2023 vs. #1 from 2024.

Since the Bears were obviously a big-time winner on that trade, a strong game by Williams against Young will make that win look even better.

One thing that has been said about Caleb Williams is that he is ultra-competitive. If that is the case, we will find out just how competitive he is when he has to play all the young guns from the previous year’s Draft right off the bat.

You can’t tell me that the League didn’t set up this potential big storyline on purpose.