Caleb Williams and Chicago Bears Rumored for Wednesday Night Opener in Seattle

We have long known the Chicago Bears could kick off the 2026 NFL regular season away from the lakefront this year because the Seattle Seahawks are on their list of opponents.

The defending Super Bowl champions have already been confirmed to be playing the first game of the season on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Lumen Field, but Seattle's opponent has not yet been confirmed.

Bears at Seahawks would be a great NFL season-opener in 2026

However, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo explained why he thinks it'll be the Bears and not some of the other possible teams, a list that includes the Arizona Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.

Garafolo thinks this would be too early for a Super Bowl rematch between the Seahawks and Patriots, and the uncertainty around Patrick Mahomes' ACL rehab and his possibly not being ready for Week 1 hurts the Chiefs' chances of landing the contest.

"Not feeling a (Super Bowl) rematch so early and Mahomes uncertainty," Garafolo said. "Has long felt like Chicago to me."

The Cowboys and Giants are also out because both teams will square off in Week 1 in New York, the NFL confirmed Monday morning.

We would suspect Arizona and Los Angeles won't get that game because they don't exactly help maximize the ratings possibilities thanks to having smaller fan bases. That said, we wouldn't totally rule them out, either, as ratings for the first game of the season figure to be great no matter what.

That said, a contest between the Super Bowl champs and a rising team led by an exciting young quarterback in Caleb Williams and an offensive guru like head coach Ben Johnson is no doubt the most interesting possibility.

A tough road for the Bears

Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis has done the leg work to determine every team's strength of schedule for the 2026 season using win totals from Vegas oddsmakers.

This is a better way to determine strength of schedule than using last year's records because this method takes into account changes a team has made during the offseason.

With this metric, the Bears have the sixth-toughest strength of schedule in the league, with only the Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams having tougher roads.

No team in the NFC North has a tougher schedule than Chicago, and the Detroit Lions have the easiest strength of schedule in the league. The Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings rank 17th and 16th, respectively.

Bears' 2026 opponents

The Bears draw the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints.

Chicago will also face the Lions, Packers, Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks on the road.

Seven of those squads made the postseason last year and should be right back there again in 2026, or at least close.

Meanwhile, teams like the Lions, Vikings, Bucs and Falcons almost made the postseason in 2025 and should compete for a spot this season. We'll also lump in the New Orleans Saints into this group because they could be improved if Tyler Shough continues to progress like he was at the end of last season.

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