Bear Digest

A vote for the most logical and popular Bears season opener

Analysis: If the Bears open against anyone other than Ben Johnson's former team, the league and networks are missing a major promotional opportunity.

Gene Chamberlain

Ben Johnson addresses media at rookie minicamp. Will his opener be against his old team? Lions fans seem to like this idea.
Ben Johnson addresses media at rookie minicamp. Will his opener be against his old team? Lions fans seem to like this idea. / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
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Momentum already is building for one specific Bears season opener among the fan base, for whatever that's worth.

In this case, it does make a lot of sense and it's obvious.

The natural matchup for the opener would be the Bears against the Detroit Lions, possibly on Sunday Night Football.

Logically, it would be a road season opener for the Bears because of Ben Johnson's return to Detroit. That matchup is too irresistible for the networks for Week 1 and everyone should have realized it by now.

It will be a surprise, even, if this is not the season opener for Chicago.

For some reason, many thought the Eagles and Bears would be an opener. Adam Schefter was one. That's not really an interesting or dramatic matchup and already we know it's Eagles-Cowboys in Week 1.

This might not be a bad thing for the Bears because it means the Detroit rematch later likely would be in cold weather at Soldier Field. Although Jared Goff got the best of Matt Eberflus' deteriorating defense last year in the December freeze, he had Johnson as his offensive coordinator then, and all the momentum in the world.

Traditionally, Goff likes to curl up in a ball in front of a fire when the gametime temp gets around freezing.

The opener against the Lions would be a difficult one for the Bears because Johnson is trying to get his new offense organized, but he'd also be going against a Detroit defense that has Kelvin Sheppard as the coordinator. He was a Detroit linebackers coach from 2021-24 and has never been a defensive coordinator.

The Lions lost eight of Dan Campbell's coaches since last year, including Johnson, Bears receivers coach Antwaan Randle El and quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett. With Campbell trying to reorganize his staff, the opener might not be a bad time for a Bears game in Detroit, with or without the added hype over Johnson's return there.

It would make an appealing mix of a rebuilt Bears offense with a tweaked defense and a Lions team minus half a coaching staff but with many of their injured players from last year now healthy.

It makes more sense than a Bears-Washington rematch in the opener, the Hail Mary repeat, because that game was a dud until the fourth quarter and one fouled-up play made it a memorable game. After the league scheduled the Bears to play Dec. 20 against the Packers, a Saturday, it would only make sense they will be given a Christmas game and the Commanders are a possibility because they also play on Dec. 20.

That eliminates Bears-Commanders.

The other interesting matchup would have been Dallas at the Bears with Matt Eberflus returning to try and shut down Johnson's offense as the Cowboys defensive coordinator, but the announcement that Dallas plays the opener against the Eagles ends that thought.

Because Fox leaked that the second game between the Packers and Bears is Dec. 20 in Green Bay, the road game with the Packers is still available for the Bears opener.

We've seen this act so many times there would be no yawning, just sleeping. It would be the 36th time they opened against each other.

Better the Lions and the Johnson-Campbell hype machine. It's always better to open at home but the Detroit demand might be too much for the league to resist.

We'll wait until Wednesday for the news. 

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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