49ers schedule: 4 best non-NFC West games in 2021
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: Week 8 — 49ers @ Bears
While games against the Titans and Colts feature one, perhaps two storylines of interest, the 49ers’ Week 8 road contest against the Chicago Bears has a number of focal points fans will want to watch.
For starters, the Bears could end up bouncing back this season after a disappointing-yet-playoff-bound 8-8 campaign last year.
And if they do, a primary reason should be rookie quarterback Justin Fields.
Fields could realistically start for Chicago over the two veterans, Andy Dalton and Nick Foles, and perhaps sooner than later. For those 49ers fans who were thinking Fields could have been the Niners’ pick at No. 3 overall, seeing the Ohio State product slip to No. 11 where the Bears traded up to get him certainly grabbed some attention.
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It’s still unclear whether or not San Francisco will be starting its own rookie quarterback, Trey Lance, by the time Week 8 rolls around. Chances are Fields is starting long before Lance is, but even that opens up yet another reason why this contest at Soldier Field would be interesting.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who could still be holding onto his starting job over Lance, is from the greater Chicago area, and it will mark the second time he’s visited Soldier Field while donning the red and gold, the first time being a win back in 2017.
The context has changed, of course, with Garoppolo being something of a lame duck and Fields being the future for Chicago.
But if Lance and Fields wind up battling it out, Week 8 could be awfully entertaining.