What to Watch For
Although the Bears are my favorite team, I am a pretty big fan of the 49ers as well, so I am very excited for this upcoming matchup. There are a few different things that I will be watching closely since it is the season opener. I want to watch the Bears play defensively and offensively under their new coaching staff. The 49ers will also be interesting because we will get to see a lot of Trey Lance (hopefully, he doesn’t get benched at some point) this season as coach Shanahan has confirmed Lance as the starter.
Bears Justin Fields vs. 49ers Trey Lance
Possibly the most polarizing storyline of the matchup is the battle of these year two quarterbacks. Trey Lance was drafted by the 49ers with the third pick of the 2021 Draft and Justin Fields was taken 11th by the Bears after they traded up to take him. They are similar athletically, both being bigger and faster than most quarterbacks. They both also have big arms, so they are both in the “fun to watch” category of young quarterbacks. It will be interesting to see how Shanahan might change his scheme or play-calling with Lance throwing the ball instead of Jimmy Garoppolo, who was the starter last year. Even more interesting to me is the Bears’ new coaching staff scheming the offense to help out Fields…
Bears’ New Coaching Regime
The Bears moved on from former Coach of the Year Matt Nagy last year, going in a new direction and hiring former Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. I’ll be watching for the defensive intensity that he will hopefully bring to the defense that the Bears have lacked since losing Vic Fangio. The Colts’ defense was graded as the ninth-best defense last year, according to PFF. That is quite a bit better than Chicago’s mark last year at 27th. Hopefully, Eberflus does help out the Bears’ defense and get it to at least above average with the talent he has there. They lost quite possibly their best defensive player in Khalil Mack, but I will really like to see how the younger defenders, like rookies Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon, play under Eberflus. The Bears also got a new offensive play-caller in Luke Getsy.
Luke Getsy Offense and Justin Fields
With Bears head coach Matt Eberflus being a defensive head coach, the offense is mostly on new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Getsy is formerly of the Packers and was their passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. With the Bears’ young star quarterback, I like this hiring with Getsy being a former quarterback, then later coaching them. I’m just antsy to see what the offense will look like with Getsy compared to what we saw last year with Nagy. Hopefully, he unlocks Fields and can really help him develop into their franchise quarterback.
49ers Defense
This defense was one of my favorite defenses to watch last year. With defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans returning, they can be one of the best in the league again. Nick Bosa is a top-five edge rusher in the league, along with Fred Warner being one of the best linebackers in the league. They have all the talent on this team and ranked seventh on defense, according to PFF. They are so well coached on the backend of the defense as well, with every defensive back knowing exactly what they’re doing and when to pass off receivers to the next zone. The pure talent on this defense blending with discipline is always something to watch on Sundays.
In Review
There are a number of things to watch for in the matchup on Sunday, and I’m simply so excited for football to be back. As I mentioned, I’ll be watching this game, specifically watching the schemes go against each other. The new offensive and defensive styles of the Bears, of course, as well as seeing what Shanahan has cooked up for the new Trey Lance offense.
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