The 2021 Chicago Bears’ season is less than a week away as the team will open their season in Los Angeles against the Rams Sunday night. The big question that many Bears’ fans and analysts have isn’t about Chicago’s potential win-loss record but when rookie quarterback Justin Fields will make his debut. As rumors swirl as to when head coach Matt Nagy will bench starting quarterback Andy Dalton for Fields, many need to remember that Dalton has the potential to delay the rookie quarterback’s debut.

Justin Fields is guaranteed to make his debut at one of three points throughout the season. Ranked by likelihood:

1. Week 2
2. Week 4
3. Some point during the Rams game

— Jeremy Layton (@JeremyLayt0n) September 1, 2021

Dalton’s Career Resume Proves That He Can Be Successful With The Bears

As many Bears’ fans and those in the media remain unhappy with Fields starting the season on the bench, not enough credit is being given to Dalton and what he will provide the Bears as their starting quarterback. Chicago’s current quarterback situation has compared to the 2017 situation between Mike Glennon and Mitchell Trubisky. Although Trubisky needed to sit and learn, he was a much better quarterback than Glennon, who was signed as a bridge quarterback. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback struggled in his four starts with the Bears only throwing three touchdowns to five interceptions while compiling a 1-3 record.

I’m not going to give this current Bears regime a pass on Andy Dalton because they missed out of Russell Wilson.

They’ve also tried selling Mike Glennon, Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles as the guy.

They are bad at identifying QB talent.

— Matt Eurich (@MattEurich) March 16, 2021

Dalton is a more proven quarterback than Glennon and will have a better supporting cast of receivers and tight ends to throw to. When general manager Ryan Pace signed the former Buccaneers quarterback in 2017, the quarterback was somewhat unproven, only starting 18 career games. Despite the inexperience, Glennon appeared capable of leading an efficient offense. Dalton has started 142 games over his career and has remained healthy for the most part.

Although Fields will be a top-tier quarterback and is the more exciting of the two players, Dalton has proven to be a successful field general during his 10-year career. He has led the Cincinnati Bengals to five playoff appearances, led Cincinnati to two AFC North Division Championships, and has been named to three Pro Bowls. Dalton has been such an effective quarterback that the Bengals chose to bench him in 2019 for three games to secure the first overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Least favorite thing about @Twitter is when everybody just 💩on the same person because they are an easy target or it's the thing to do.

Andy Dalton is a 3x Pro Bowl QB who has taken his team to the playoffs 5 times & has made $86M.

If he "sucks" then most of you suck. 😮

— Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) March 17, 2021

It is easy to dislike Dalton solely for the fact that he is delaying the debut of Fields, but it is unfair to undercut the potential of him succeeding as the Bears quarterback in 2021. The former Pro Bowl quarterback likes to target his running backs and tight ends in the passing game. The Bears are deep with depth at both the running back and tight end position as David Montgomery, Damien Williams, Cole Kmet, Jimmy Graham, and Jesse James will be featured in Chicago’s passing attack this season.

Dalton’s Has A Significant Chance Of Delaying Fields’ Debut For Later In The Season

Many media pundits believe that Nagy will make the switch to Fields by the Bear’s week four game against the Detroit Lions. There is a good chance that Chicago will be 1-2 through the first three weeks losing to the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns. If Dalton performs well despite the potential losses, it may not be easy for the Bears to move to Fields that soon. There is a significant chance that Chicago could be 2-2 through the first portion of the NFL season, and without the quarterback position hindering the team, Nagy could delay Field’s debut.

“Andy Dalton… He’s a true professional.” –@LT_21⁰⁰

We take a look to @chicagobears camp 👇 pic.twitter.com/jjaPitdSXR

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 11, 2021

The Bears will have their toughest stretch of the season from both an on-field and off-field perspective from week five to seven. They will be on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders, at home against the rival Green Bay Packers, and on the road against the defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. No coach would want to put their rookie quarterback in a situation of starting in two hostile road environments. Furthermore, Nagy could look to shield Fields from the media pressure of playing two Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady in back-to-back games.

Dalton is capable of handling those environments and playing against those quarterbacks, given his playoff experience. If he plays well during the Bears’ first four games, Nagy will likely allow him to start the next three games to get the team to their week eight matchup at home against the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers game could be where Fields debuts as it will be against a winnable opponent while Chicago has an additional day to prepare for their next opponent in the Pittsburgh Steelers before the bye week right after.

Chicago Bears HC Matt Nagy told @AlbertBreer that Justin Fields and Andy Dalton “have an unbelievable relationship."

Nagy: “Andy's a huge supporter of Justin and Justin's a huge supporter of Andy.“

— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) September 6, 2021

The biggest key for Dalton at the start of the season is to stretch the defense out by connected on deep passes to his wide receivers. If he can be accurate on 20+ yard throws to Darnell Mooney, Allen Robinson, and Marquise Goodwin, it will open up more accurate throws underneath to his running backs and tight ends. Dalton has passed for over 3,000 yards in eight seasons and thrown over 20 touchdowns in five seasons, which are numbers no Bears’ quarterback has been able to generate in the past 30 years.

It is ok to want Fields to start, but that yearning for the rookie to start shouldn’t undercut the proven success that Dalton has had at the quarterback position. If he performs well in the Bears’ first few games and isn’t the sole reason for their losses, he likely remains the starter up until the mid-way part of the season. Although Dalton’s potential success may not sit well with fans, they shouldn’t be surprised given the quarterbacks’ quietly successful career.