To kick off The Chicago Bears’ 2022 season, they meet with a formidable foe in The San Francisco 49ers. While the roster comparison favors The 49ers, both rosters are quite similar in the sense they both are led by second-year quarterbacks Justin Fields and Trey Lance. Fields is The Bears QB and Lance The 49ers QB. Even though both quarterbacks reside in different environments, all eyes will be on them as they both face off against each other for the first time in their young careers.
There is no lie that The Bears roster is worse than The 49ers roster. With that being said, the week one matchup between these two teams may come down to quarterback play rather than roster or coaching. That isn’t saying that the roster and coaching aren’t going to be factored in the game at all, but if one of these second-year QBs shows regression instead of regression, they might find themselves on the losing side. Even though Lance has more talented weapons around him, a better coaching staff, and an overall better roster, it’s not controversial to say that Fields is still the better QB. The odds stack up against Fields, but he has a couple of advantages that Lance doesn’t.
Fields, for some reason, was doubted heavily when he entered the 2021 NFL draft. When it came to the 49ers’ decision to draft a QB, Fields wasn’t even on their list. Now, Fields gets to face off against the team that decided he wasn’t good enough for them. This isn’t Fields’ first time facing the 49ers however, as he faced off against them in a regular season game resulting in a 33-22 loss. The Bears lost that game, but Fields performed very well as he totaled 278 total yards with a passing and rushing touchdown. It isn’t that far-fetched to say that Fields can boast an even better performance in his second showing against The 49ers.
Alongside the chip on his shoulder, Fields also displayed a better preseason than Lance. Yes, it is just the preseason, but Fields displayed better accuracy, better decision-making, and hell, he displayed better everything! Fields gave The Bears a good look into what the future could look like, and the future was looking very bright. Lance still boasted an impressive preseason, but nowhere near the level of Fields’. With how Fields was playing compared to Lance, he looks ready to make The 49ers pay.
With all these odds stacked against Fields, can he still come out and outperform Lance in week one? Obviously, it isn’t known who will have the better game, but an analysis of both quarterbacks favors Fields more than Lance. If Fields comes out and dominates, he might just shock The NFL and upset The 49ers.
