Nothing ever seems to come easy for the Chicago Bears. It took a profound amount of good fortune for them to turn what appeared to be a forgettable offseason into one filled with hope courtesy of the trade for Justin Fields. Yet that euphoria wasn’t allowed to last long. Just two weeks later, the reality seemed to set in again as the NFL revealed its official schedule for the 2021 season.
It certainly doesn’t come across as anything one would call easy. Right out of the gate the Bears play the Los Angeles Rams on the road. A team that stomped them 24-10 last season and now have a brand new quarterback in old foil Matthew Stafford. Things don’t really let up after that with a number of stretches against several teams that were in the playoffs last year. It’s hard not to feel like the Bears got the short end of the stick this year.
One person who agrees is Conor Orr of the MMQB.
“The Bears have one of the more difficult schedules in the NFL in terms of raw strength data based on last year’s winning percentages. And while the league schedule makers did a solid job of spreading out the landmines, this will be a thick forest to wade through, especially if Chicago is planning to insert a rookie quarterback at some point. Some particularly thorny stretches include Oct. 17 through Nov. 21, where the Bears take on the Packers, the Buccaneers in Tampa, the 49ers, the Steelers in Pittsburgh and the Ravens post-bye.”
What makes this entire scenario even odder is the nature of the game layout. The Bears will not have a single stretch of the season where they play back-to-back games on the road or at home. It will alternate all year. That creates a rather interesting travel schedule. Players won’t be allowed to settle down for any period of time. It will be play a game, saddle up and move on to a new stadium. Then repeat.
The only thing working in their favor is that they don’t have any trips to London and only two out to the west coast. That being their opener in Los Angeles and again near the end of the year in Seattle. So while the travel will be difficult, it could be a lot worse. In addition to this, the Bears will play four games in primetime and a handful of others in the late afternoon window. A clear indicator the NFL expects them to be a ratings draw. Likely for two reasons.
Either they’re winning games or they’re playing their brand new quarterback.
When will the Chicago Bears play Justin Fields?
That seems to be the biggest question fans are asking right now rather than if the team can make the playoffs. Such is the hype generated by the acquisition of Fields. Nobody expected the Ohio State star to fall out of the top 10. Much less the Bears, who were originally picking 20th overall to be the team to snag him. For the first time in many years, it feels like this organization found a genuine superstar-level talent at quarterback. Time will tell if that holds true.
Everybody knows he’s going to see the field eventually. It’s just a matter of when. That will depend on Andy Dalton. The Chicago Bears brass promised him that he would be the starter this season. They haven’t deviated from that stance despite drafting Fields. It’s clear they’re hoping he can give them stable, competent quarterback play in the interim while Matt Nagy and his coaching staff work to get Fields ready.
However, as everybody knows the schedule dictates everything.
If the Bears get off to a rough start or hit a bad patch later in the year, it’s plenty possible they’ll decide to get Fields into the action. There is just no telling how things will go. Chicago still has a good roster with a nice mix of able veterans and up-and-coming youngsters. If they manage to stay healthy, this team can win 10 games. It’s just hard to look at this schedule and not feel trepidation.