The NFL left five games unscheduled for Week 15, including the Bears’ visit to the Browns, and solidified those Thursday. Bears-Browns will be Sunday, Dec. 17 at noon after the league bypassed it for one of its three national broadcasts Saturday Dec. 16.
The NFL chose Vikings at Bengals (noon), Steelers at Colts (3:30 p.m.) and Broncos at Lions (7:15 p.m.) for its three Saturday games. It also announced a Monday night flex for that week, removing Chiefs-Patriots and replacing it with Eagles-Seahawks.
The Bears have been on national standalone games four times this season, and most of those have been hard to watch. They played Thursday night games against the Commanders and Panthers, a Sunday night game against the Chargers and most recently beat the Vikings 12-10 on Monday Night Football.
The Bears are on a bye week and resume Dec. 10 at home against the Lions (noon), followed by the game in Cleveland, home games against the Cardinals and Falcons and the season finale at the Packers. The Bears-Packers game is scheduled for Sunday Jan. 7, but the time likely won’t be set until the week before.
