Bears have 5th toughest strength of schedule in 2019, but does that matter?

Repeat after me; Strength of schedule is meaningless.

Based off team’s 2018 records, the Chicago Bears will have the fifth toughest schedule in the NFL in 2019 when they take on opponents with a combined record of 131-121-4 (.520).

Does this concern you?

I know some fans are worried about the tough “first place” schedule dooming the Bears in 2019, but did you realize they are facing the exact same strength of schedule as they were a year ago?

After calculating up the records of the Bears opponents following the 2017 season, they were set to face teams with a combined record of 133-123 (.520). That meant the Bears headed into the 2018 season facing the 8th toughest strength of schedule after finishing in last place.

Why did their “last place” schedule have them playing so many hard teams?

How on earth could the Bears have faced such a daunting S.O.S. with a new head coach and an unproven quarterback?

It didn’t matter because one year has nothing to do with the other. Head coach Matt Nagy, his fantastic defense, and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky helped the Bears to the NFC North title in 2018.

The Bears are a team trending upwards in 2019 and they will play 15 games with teams also trending. Whether that be up or down depends on a lot of things, but one thing that won’t matter is the previous season's record.

We’ll find out the Bears schedule in a couple months, but here are their 2019 opponents.

Home: Packers, Lions, Vikings, Cowboys, Giants, Saints, Chiefs, Chargers

Away: Packers, Lions, Vikings, Eagles, Redskins, Rams, Broncos, Raiders

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