What we know so far

The entirety of the NFL’s 272-game regular-season schedule won’t be officially unveiled until 7 p.m. Wednesday. But the league already started to get the word out on some of its higher-profile, bigger-stage games — and other schedule news is beginning to leak.

The Chicago Bears will open the season on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” against the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 8 at Soldier Field, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.

Week 2 will bring another division game for the Bears, who will travel to Detroit to face first-year coach Ben Johnson’s former team, the Lions, at noon Sept. 14 on Fox-32. The Bears also will close the season at home against the Lions on Jan. 4 or 5.

The week before that second Lions meeting, the Bears will visit the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 28 for a “Sunday Night Football” game on NBC.

The Bears will play back-to-back road games versus AFC North teams in Weeks 8-9, visiting the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 26 and the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 2. That will be followed by a Week 10 home game against the New York Giants on Nov. 9 and a trip to Minnesota in Week 11.

The bye week will arrive for the Bears in Week 5 — typically the earliest possible open date since the NFL added a 17th regular-season game. That means 13 consecutive game weeks to close the season.

Earlier in the week it was announced the Philadelphia Eagles will host NFL Kickoff festivities at Lincoln Financial Field, facing the Dallas Cowboys in the Thursday night Week 1 showcase game. That means the Bears’ trip to Philly will wait until later in the season — on a holiday weekend.

Amazon announced later Monday that the Bears will be featured on Black Friday in Week 13. They’ll travel to Philadelphia to play the Super Bowl champion Eagles at 2 p.m. on the day after Thanksgiving, with the game streamed on Prime Video.

The Bears also were part of Fox’s Monday announcement of a Week 16 Saturday doubleheader on Dec. 20. The Bears will host the Green Bay Packers, and the Eagles will visit the Washington Commanders. Game times are to be determined.

Amazon also announced Monday that the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Denver Broncos on Christmas night — a Thursday — on Prime Video. Two other Christmas games will air on Netflix.

The NFL on Tuesday revealed the matchups for six of its record seven international games, with all six to air on NFL Network. The seventh overseas game will have the Los Angeles Chargers opening the season in Brazil against an opponent to be named Wednesday, with the game streaming for free exclusively on YouTube and YouTube TV.

In addition to the standard home and away NFC North games, the Bears will play the Cowboys, Giants, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints at home. They have road games against the Eagles, Commanders, Ravens, Bengals, 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders.

As additional leaks and announcements trickle out, the Tribune is tracking what we’re hearing and what we’re learning about the Bears’ 2025 schedule.

Here’s what we know so far.

2025 Bears schedule

Week 1: vs. Vikings, Monday, Sept. 8 (7:15 p.m., ESPN)

vs. Vikings, Monday, Sept. 8 (7:15 p.m., ESPN) Week 2: at Lions, Sunday, Sept. 14 (noon, Fox-32)

at Lions, Sunday, Sept. 14 (noon, Fox-32) Week 3: TBD

TBD Week 4: TBD

TBD Week 5: Bye week

Bye week Week 6: TBD

TBD Week 7: TBD

TBD Week 8: at Ravens, Sunday, Oct. 26 (noon, TV TBD)

at Ravens, Sunday, Oct. 26 (noon, TV TBD) Week 9: at Bengals, Sunday, Nov. 2 (noon, TV TBD)

at Bengals, Sunday, Nov. 2 (noon, TV TBD) Week 10: vs. Giants, Sunday, Nov. 9 (noon, Fox-32)

vs. Giants, Sunday, Nov. 9 (noon, Fox-32) Week 11: at Vikings, Sunday, Nov. 16 (noon, Fox-32)

at Vikings, Sunday, Nov. 16 (noon, Fox-32) Week 12: TBD

TBD Week 13: at Eagles, Friday, Nov. 28 (2 p.m., Prime Video)

at Eagles, Friday, Nov. 28 (2 p.m., Prime Video) Week 14: TBD

TBD Week 15: vs. Browns, Sunday, Dec. 14 (noon, TV TBD)

vs. Browns, Sunday, Dec. 14 (noon, TV TBD) Week 16: vs. Packers, Saturday, Dec. 20 (time TBD, Fox-32)

vs. Packers, Saturday, Dec. 20 (time TBD, Fox-32) Week 17: at 49ers, Sunday, Dec. 28 (7:20 p.m., NBC-5)

at 49ers, Sunday, Dec. 28 (7:20 p.m., NBC-5) Week 18: vs. Lions, Saturday, Jan. 4, or Sunday, Jan. 5 (time and TV TBD)

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