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Bear Digest

Schedule Makers Need to Give Bears Top Billing Over Tired Old KC

The Bears' chances for playing in the NFL season opener look better, but the NFL should also give them the game in Madrid as a rising power, as well.
Gene Chamberlain|
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes tries to outrun former Bears DT Andrew Billings.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes tries to outrun former Bears DT Andrew Billings. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Chances for the Bears making an overseas appearance this season seem somewhat less likely after a request made by the Kansas City Chiefs.

In other words, the Chiefs could be helping the Bears catch a break even as the schedule is being formed.

According to the Kansas City Star, Chiefs president Mark Donovan has made a request to the NFL that his team be the one to play the Atlanta Falcons in a game in Madrid, Spain this season.

"We've been very open and aggressive with the league—as we have been since the beginning—that we want to play in Spain this year," Donovan told the Star. "We think it would be a great market, game  matchup."

Teams are allowed to put in requests that are taken into account by the league when making out schedules.

Here's a tip for Donovan based on the Bears' experience: Never count on the league to help you out with anything.

Expect Chiefs to get their way as usual

The league announced already that Atlanta is in this game but hasn't released the other team.

Both the Bears and Chiefs were thought to be under consideration for the game because Atlanta is not a team with marketing rights to games in Spain. The league would want to have at least one of the teams involved to have marketing rights. The Bears, Chiefs and Dolphins are the teams with marketing rights in Madrid. The Dolphins, who played last year in Spain, don't face Atlanta this year but the Bears and Chiefs do.

The Bears could still wind up playing in another big game that usually has been one Kansas City played during recent seasons. That's the NFL opener on Wednesday night, Sept. 9, at Seattle. The Chiefs and Bears are among road opponents of Seattle's for 2026.

Normally, no one with the Bears would be angered by missing out on this overseas "opportunity." Although the exposure overseas doesn't hurt the brand, it's always a distraction and detriment to have the schedule interrupted by a game overseas and then a bye week.

The bye week follows. Any momentum a team might have gets completely stymied. The Bears went through this situation when they went to London in 2024. Although they beat Jacksonville easily, they had a bye week after that, and returned to suffer their most infamous defeat in decades in the Hail Mary game.

Forget Kansas City

But this time the league really should consider the Bears for the game in Spain. The Chiefs were 6-11 last year. Maybe no one in Kansas City got that memo. That's Saints and Bengals type of stuff. Atlanta wasn't exactly an exciting draw, either.

The Bears were the hot team last year that pulled in big television audiences. So the league should at least put one team worthy of attracting attention in the Madrid game against the rebuilding Falcons.

It's probably best not to expect the Bears in that game because the Chiefs want it.

The Bears probably should get ready to play the NFL opener on Wednesday night, Sept. 9 at Seattle because the Chiefs don't want that game and they get whatever they want even when other teams get nothing from the league.

The Chiefs and Bears are among teams eligible to be in that game as road opponents of Seattle's for 2026, but Kansas City's ownership anticipates not being tabbed for that opening game because Patrick Mahomes is getting over a late-season ACL tear and might not be ready by the opener.

So what? Every team must endure hardships.

It sure seems like the Chiefs think they run the league.

The NFL doesn't think twice about taking away two draft picks the Bears deserve for Ian Cunningham leaving to accept a promotion to top football executive in Atlanta, but Kansas City is making all sorts of demands and the league is simply supposed to do whatever they say?

No one wants to see 6-11 in a game in Spain. Probably no one wants to see 6-11 on opening night, either. Why would anyone think playing the Seahawks with Mahomes at QB would be worth watching, anyway? They lost four out of five BEFORE his ACL tear. Then they didn't win another one after it.

The NFL should lean on the Bears for all these assignments now that they're everyone's darling and attract big TV audiences with Caleb Williams at QB.

The Chiefs should quietly play noon games without national TV all year.

And maybe they should forget some of those insurance commercials while they're at it. Send them Chicago's way instead.

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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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