It’s the beginning of the Trey Lance era in the Bay Area, with the San Francisco 49ers naming the second-year quarterback as their starter in 2022. All eyes of Niners fans will be on Lance this coming Sunday, as San Francisco opens its season in Windy City against Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears. Fields is also entering his second year in the pros, so it would be pretty interesting to see which of the young QBs will have the better start to the season. Check out our preview of this 49ers vs Bears game in Week 1 of the 2022 NFL regular season.
The 49ers made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game last season, only falling prey to the eventual Super Bowl champions, Los Angeles Rams in that contest. Nevertheless, the Niners are stacked with talent. Running back Elijah Mitchell and wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon along with tight end George Kittle make up most of the scary attack of the Niners that averaged 361.1 total yards per game in 2021. With a more mobile quarterback in Lance, look for the Niners’ offense to show up against the seemingly unstable Bears.
The Niners, who also allowed just 20.6 points per game in 2021, are 5-0 against the spread in their last 5 outings overall.
The Bears went 3-0 in the preseason, which doesn’t really mean much, but at least they have built some measure of a winning culture to start Matt Eberflus’s career as head coach of the team. Eberflus is expecting Fields to take a leap in Year 2. The former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback played 12 games in 2021 and amassed just 1,870 yards and seven touchdowns against 10 interceptions, while also coming up with 420 rushing yards and a couple of rushing scores. With a healthy David Montgomery and a solid tight end in Cole Kmet, the Bears can’t be counted out against San Francisco, especially since they are going to see action at Soldier Field. Their familiarity with the seemingly substandard playing surface of the stadium might just be the advantage they need to spell to upset San Francisco.
The Over is 4-1 in the Bears’ last 5 games as an underdog.
