Bears Week 1 snap counts: Justin Fields plays 5 snaps, Trevis Gipson gets 7 on defense

Before we put an exclamation mark on Week 1, here’s a breakdown of the Bears’ snap counts against the Rams.

The Chicago Bears dropped their season opener 34-14 to the Los Angeles Rams, where left the team faced with some concerns heading into Week 2.

Looking at the snap counts from Sunday’s loss, there were some surprises by the usage of some players. But, for the most part, it was what we expected heading into the season.

Before we put an exclamation point on Week 1, here’s a breakdown of the Bears’ snap counts against the Rams.

Some Bears and Rams fans got into fight following Week 1 game at SoFi Stadium

Some Bears and Rams fans got into an altercation following the Week 1 game at SoFi Stadium.

Sunday night marked the first game at SoFi Stadium with fans in attendance, where the Chicago Bears were dealt a 34-14 loss by the Los Angeles Rams. But it also marked the first fan brawl in the new stadium.

TMZ Sports obtained footage of Bears and Rams fans getting into an altercation following the game in the course of SoFi Stadium.

According to one witness, things got aggressive early in the game when they were sitting in their seats. Security stepped in and made fans change seats in an attempt to keep things in order.

But the fans ran into each other after the game inside the concourse, where the brawl then ensued with several punches being thrown. Security once again stepped in and broke up the fight.

Warning: This video contains foul language.

[listicle id=480560]

[listicle id=480671]

[listicle id=480554]

Leash Watch: How short is Bears QB Andy Dalton’s leash heading into Week 2?

Following a so-so performance in the Bears’ Week 1 loss to the Rams, here’s where Andy Dalton’s leash stands heading into Week 2.

The Chicago Bears dropped their season opener 34-14 to the Los Angeles Rams, where quarterback Andy Dalton was far from the problem. But he also wasn’t the solution either, which could spell the beginning of the Justin Fields era much sooner than expected.

Dalton survived Week 1 with his health and starting job in tact. But there certainly appears to be an expiration date on his time as starter. It’s going to be sooner rather than later when Fields gets his chance to start in place of Dalton. We just don’t know when, exactly.

While we wait for Fields to get his starting chance, we decided to have some fun with our Andy Dalton Leash Watch, where we take a weekly look at how short — or long — Dalton’s leash is heading into a given week, until it’s inevitably pulled.

Whether it lasts for three weeks six weeks or longer remains to be seen. But we’ll be following along the entire way.

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the shortest and 10 the longest leash, here’s where Dalton’s leash stands heading into Week 2.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Stock up, stock down from Bears’ Week 1 loss

From David Montgomery to Marqui Christian, here’s a look at whose stock is rising or falling after the Bears’ Week 1 loss against the Rams.

The Chicago Bears dropped their season opener 34-14 to the Los Angeles Rams, where they’re left to answer a slew of questions ranging from a declining defense to injury concerns at offensive tackle.

Now that the dust has settled, we’re taking a look at which players saw their stock rise and which players saw their stock dip during the win.

Bears open as 2.5-point home favorites vs. Bengals in Week 2

The Bears will host the Bengals in their home opener, where Chicago is early 2.5-point favorites in Week 2.

The Chicago Bears will host the Cincinnati Bengals in their home opener on Sunday at Soldier Field, but it won’t be a cakewalk against a Bengals offense that was impressive in their season-opening win.

The Bears are coming off a brutal 34-14 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, who abused Chicago’s defense for the entirety of the game. Despite only scoring 14 points, the Bears offense showed signs of encouragement, led by running back David Montgomery’s 108-yard outing and Rookie Justin Fields’ brief stint in a small package of plays.

With the season opener in the rearview mirror, Chicago is now on to Cincinnati, where the Bears have opened as 2.5-point home favorites against the Bengals, according to Tipico Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 44.5 points.

The 2.5 points doesn’t suggest much confidence in Chicago, as the home team is usually afforded 3 points. It’s not really a surprise following an embarrassing performance by the Bears’ once-vaunted defense, where they allowed 34 points. Now, they’ll be tasked with contending with Joe Burrow and his cast of weapons.

Last season, the Bears were favored in just three of 16 games against the New York Giants, Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars. Chicago were big 7.5-point underdogs in Week 1 against the Rams.

Can the Bears rebound following a brutal Week 1 loss? Or will the Bengals make it 2-0 against the NFC North? We’ll see when the Bears and Bengals kick things off Sunday at Noon CT on CBS.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

[listicle id=480477]

[listicle id=480554]

[listicle id=480631]

It doesn’t sound like we’ll see Bears rookie Justin Fields as a starter before Week 4

According to Jay Glazer, we’re not likely to see rookie Justin Fields take over as starter before Week 4, when the Bears host the Lions.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbve7kb6he6scwe player_id=none image=https://bearswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields made his brief NFL debut during Sunday night’s loss to the Rams, where he saw five snaps of action throughout the course of the game.

His first play was a 9-yard completion to receiver Marquise Goodwin and his final play of the game was a 3-yard rushing touchdown that left Fields’ teammates and Bears fans alike incredibly excited.

Despite an ill-advised interception in the end zone, Andy Dalton had a decent outing, which should be enough to keep his starting job heading into Week 2. But we could soon be close to Fields’ starting debut.

According to FOX NFL insider Jay Glazer, we’re not likely to see Fields take over as starter before Week 4, which paints that game against the Lions as a prime target date for Fields’ first NFL start.

“The plan was for him not to be the starter before Week 4,” Glazer said. “That one I can tell you without a doubt. The Bears were really hoping their defense would come up big, they’d be able to play ball control football and Andy Dalton would be able to manage that team and Justin Fields could just learn. They did want to take him along a lot more slowly than throwing him in there in Game 1 or Game 2 or something along those lines.”

While Fields didn’t light the world on fire during his mere five snaps, even that was enough to show what Fields brings to this offense that Dalton doesn’t.

So did Fields do enough in his debut to change Nagy’s plan (which Glazer says is that Week 4 timeline)?

“No,” coach Matt Nagy said. “We’re where we’re at and I think he did a great job of what we were asking him to do.”

That’s about the answer we expected out of Nagy, especially given Dalton wasn’t terrible in his debut. But decent isn’t going to be enough to win games with this struggling defense, which is why Nagy will likely find himself making the switch much sooner than he anticipates.

[listicle id=480631]

[listicle id=480554]

[listicle id=480548]

14 crazy stats from Bears’ Week 1 loss vs. Rams

Here are 14 crazy stats from the Bears’ brutal 34-14 loss to the Rams in Week 1.

The Chicago Bears opened the 2021 season with an embarrassing 34-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football, where it wasn’t Chicago’s offense that was the biggest disappointment.

The good news is the rest of the NFC North also lost, so the Bears are somehow tied for first place in the division with the Packers, Vikings and Lions. Small victories, right?

Here are 14 crazy stats from the Bears’ loss to the Rams in Week 1.

Matt Nagy appeared in new McDonald’s ad, and there were simply too many jokes to make

Bears coach Matt Nagy appeared in a new McDonald’s ad, and the jokes literally write themselves.

To say that Matt Nagy has worn out his welcome in Chicago would be an understatement. Back-to-back 8-8 seasons, poor offensive play and keeping rookie quarterback Justin Fields on the bench has a way of alienating a fanbase.

So there couldn’t have been a more perfect time for McDonald’s to release an ad featuring Nagy recruiting new employees to the fast food chain just hours after Chicago’s 34-14 loss to the Rams on Sunday Night Football.

“I was hired to help make this great team even better…If they put in the work, they can make manager on this team.”

As you can imagine, Twitter had a field day (no pun intended) with this. The jokes really write themselves.

Bears RB David Montgomery nominated for FedEx’s Ground Player of the Week

Bears RB David Montgomery’s 108-yard rushing performance against the Rams garnered him FedEx Ground Player of the Week honors.

Bears running back David Montgomery picked up right where he left off last season during Sunday night’s Week 1 loss to the Rams, where he was easily Chicago’s best player on the field.

Montgomery led the Bears with 108 yards rushing on 16 carries (6.8 average), including a 41-yard run on the first series of the game to give Chicago an early scoring opportunity. Montgomery scored the Bears’ first of two rushing touchdowns late in the second quarter on a 3-yard run to cut the Rams’ lead to 13-7.

That performance garnered Montgomery a nomination for FedEx’s Ground Player of the Week, where he’s up against the likes of Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon and Denver’s Melvin Gordon.

Montgomery is coming off his first 1,000-yard season, where he finished with the fifth-most rushing yards in the NFL in 2020. Montgomery currently is the second-leading rusher in the league, behind Mixon, through Sunday’s slate of games in Week 1.

You can vote for Montgomery as the FedEx Ground Player of the Week here: https://www.nfl.com/voting/air-and-ground.

[listicle id=480564]

[listicle id=480477]

[listicle id=480540]

Can we expect to see more of Bears rookie Justin Fields in Week 2?

Matt Nagy didn’t confirm whether we’ll see more of rookie Justin Fields in Week 2, but how could the Bears not continue to utilize him?

Rookie quarterback Justin Fields made his Bears debut on the fourth play of Sunday night’s loss to the Rams, where he completed a 9-yard pass to wide receiver Marquise Goodwin before jogging to the sideline.

Two plays later, starting quarterback Andy Dalton tossed an ill-advised interception in the end zone to halt a potential game-opening scoring drive.

While Fields didn’t see the field in any sort of starting capacity, Bears fans did get a quick glimpse at their hopeful franchise savior in five plays. Fields didn’t light the world on fire, but he did show what he brings to the table that Dalton doesn’t, which included his mobility on a three-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter that brought the Bears to within six points and explosiveness on offense.

Matt Nagy better get used to fielding questions about Fields’ usage in games until he’s inevitably named the starter. During his Monday press conference, Nagy was asked if we could see more of Fields against the Bengals on Sunday.

“I don’t know. We’ll see. I think he did a good job while he was in there,” Nagy said with a smile.

While Nagy’s answer alluded to nothing — did we really expect him to give an actual answer — it was easy to read between the lines that we should expect to see more of Fields when the Bears host the Bengals in Week 2. And hopefully it’s for more than just five snaps.

[listicle id=480564]

[listicle id=480477]

[listicle id=480540]

[listicle id=480548]