NEWSLETTER
The NFL’s full schedule rollout begins in earnest tomorrow, but there’s already some buzz building around a rumored Week 1 matchup.
It appears as if the Bears will be California dreamin’ to start the 2021 season:
Week 1 Bears open in LA on Sunday Night Football against the Rams.
— Danny Parkins (@DannyParkins) May 11, 2021
Chicago radio host Danny Parkins reports the Bears are scheduled to kick off the 2021 NFL season on Sunday Night Football against the Rams. And to that I say: 👀 👀 👀.
UPDATE — It’s happening:
https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1392460345915154433
The rest of our original post from Tuesday is as follows.
It would be an interesting decision to match these two teams to open the SNF slate of games. But I suppose we can make sense of it. Two major markets in Chicago and Los Angeles will surely bring tons of eyeballs. Pitting two NFL Coach of the Year winners in Sean McVay and Matt Nagy up against each other could make for an intruding showdown. Putting the Bears defense against a healthy Matthew Stafford in a reunion of long-time NFC North foes could be good. And, of course, who wouldn’t want to be the network potentially showcasing Justin Fields’ pro debut?
I suppose there’s also value in the NFL showcasing the new So-Fi Stadium for the first time with a crowd. After all, the new home of the Rams (and Chargers!) will host the Super Bowl in February. And NBC will have the game coverage for it, too. The synergy works on so many levels!
Should it play out this way, it will be the fourth consecutive year for a Bears-Rams primetime affair. Chicago’s bullying of the Rams in 2018 at Soldier Field kicked things off, but Los Angeles emerged victorious in 2019 and 2020. For what it’s worth, we’ve seen some quality Hollywood-esque storylines from the last two matchups. In 2019, Mitchell Trubisky was pulled (benched?) late in the fourth quarter after a woeful performance. A year later, Brian Griese relayed an anecdote from Nick Foles that illustrated the Bears’ many issues on Monday Night Football. I can’t wait to see what this year’s trip has in store for us…
