By Tim Ahrens/The Daily Journal
Years ago, a fourth-place finish in any of the National Football League’s divisions would have practically guaranteed a soft schedule the following season.
Those days are gone now as the NFL’s rotating schedule allows just two games to be based upon last year’s performance, a far cry from the days when about half of the 16 games were against teams with similar records the year before.
The 2008 Bears, who finished fourth in the National Football Conference North division last season, have the 11th toughest schedule in the NFL, based on 2007′s records.
The Bears’ opponents this season combined for a 136-120 record last season, a .531 winning percentage. Six of the teams the Bears will play this season made the playoffs a year ago.
Division rival Green Bay shares the 11th spot with the Bears while Minnesota (tied for fifth at .551) and Detroit (10th at .543), the other NFC North combatants, have tougher schedules, at least on paper.
Pittsburgh, which finished 10-6 and won the American Football Conference North’s division, has the toughest row to hoe. Its opponents won nearly 60 percent (153-103) of their games last season.
The NFL began its current schedule rotation in 2002 in an attempt to ensure matchups on a semi-regular basis. The rotation will run through the 2009 season when it will be evaluated.
Under the current plan, there are four teams in four divisions in both conferences, the NFC and AFC. A team plays its division rivals twice, for a total of six games. A team also plays all four teams in one rotating division in its own conference and all four teams from a rotating division in the other conference.
The final two games come against the corresponding teams in the same place in the other two divisions of your own conference.
Sounds confusing, but it really isn’t.
This and every season, the Bears play their NFC North foes — Green Bay, Minnesota and Detroit — twice, once at Soldier Field at once on the road.
This season, Chicago matches up with the NFC South. The Bears play at Carolina on Sept. 14 and at Atlanta on Oct. 12. They will host defending NFC South champion Tampa Bay (Sept. 21) and New Orleans (Dec. 11).
Last season, the Bears matched with the East, beating Philadelphia while losing to Dallas, Washington and the New York Giants — all playoff teams.
Next season, the Bears will play the four teams in the NFC West.
Part of the reason for the Bears’ heavy schedule this season is that they have to play the teams in the AFC South, which placed three squads– Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Tennessee — into the AFC Playoffs. Its fourth-place team, Houston, was a .500 team at 8-8.
The Bears open on Sept. 7 at AFC South champion Indianapolis (13-3) in a rematch of Super Bowl XLI and close the season on Dec. 28 in Houston. The Bears will host Tennessee on Nov. 9 and Jacksonville on Dec. 7.
In 2007, the Bears played teams in the AFC West, defeating Oakland, Denver and Kansas City while losing the season opener at San Diego.
Next year, the featured AFC division will be the North — Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland and Cincinnati.
This year, the Bears will play last year’s fourth-place finishers in the NFC East (Philadelphia, 8-8) and the West (St. Louis, 3-13).
Next years two unknown opponents will be determined by this season’s records. The Bears do know they will play the team in the corresponding place in the NFC East and NFC South, since it plays the NFC West in 2009.
