NFC Contender Faces the Toughest NFL Schedule This Season

The 2026 NFL schedule is set to be released later this week and while the full schedule hasn’t been announced just yet, one team already received some unfortunate news.

This year’s most difficult schedule in teams of strength of schedule by the previous season’s winning percentage belongs to the Chicago Bears, who along with their NFC North rivals, will play all four teams and the AFC East (Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and New England Patriots).

The team is also slated to face off against the NFC South comprised of the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While that doesn’t sound too difficult given the lack of success from the NFC South, Jets and Dolphins last season, Chicago has a few other obstacles in its way.

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The Bears will face three opponents that finished atop their divisions last season in the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles as well as the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Chicago also has to contend with three teams in its own division that all had winning records in 2025.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed the gauntlet facing the Bears is the most difficult schedule in the NFL this year with a 55% winning percentage.

The Miami Dolphins were the next closest team with a 54.2% winning percentage of its upcoming opponents.

Chicago’s full schedule will be announced by the NFL on May 14.

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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 9:42 AM.