FIRST AND 10
• Chicago is opening the season in Los Angeles for the first time since 1950, a 24-20 win against the Rams at the LA Memorial Coliseum. Sunday will mark the fourth straight year facing the Rams in primetime. The Bears are 54-38-3 all-time against the Rams.
• Chicago (55-41-5) has won the second most games on Kickoff weekend, trailing only Green Bay (58).
• The Bears enter the 2021 season with the third-toughest schedule based on opponent winning percentages from 2020 (Pittsburgh .574; Baltimore .563; Chicago .550).
• Head coach MATT NAGY is 9-2 in September games in his three seasons as head coach. Last year he and the Bears went unbeaten in September for the first time since 2010.
• Bears QB ANDY DALTON is 2-1 in three career starts vs. the Rams, completing 67 of 105 passes for 741 yards, four TDs and two INTs. Last season Dalton threw for 329 yards and a touchdown as the Cowboys fell at the Rams 24-10 in Week 8.
• TE JIMMY GRAHAM needs one more reception to become the sixth tight end in NFL history to hit 700 for his career. He also would join the company of Hall of Fame tight ends Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates as the only three TEs to eclipse 700+ career receptions, 8,000+ yards and 80+ TDs.
• RB DAVID MONTGOMERY totaled 1,508 yards from scrimmage (1,070 rushing) in 2020 and was one of five players in the NFL with over 1,500+ yards from scrimmage. He has a streak of six consecutive games with a TD dating to Week 12 of the 2020 season.
• WR ALLEN ROBINSON II finished last season as Chicago’s leading receiver with 102 receptions for 1,250 yards and six TDs. Robinson became the fifth Bears player ever to post back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns (2019-20).
• In 13 primetime games with the Bears LB KHALIL MACK has 11.0 sacks, eight forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown.
• K CAIRO SANTOS enters the season with a streak of 27 consecutive field goals made in the regular season, a Bears record, a streak that started in Week 3 last year at the Falcons.
GAME NOTES
• The Bears finished the 2020 season with an 8-8 record and earned a Wild Card playoff berth for the second time in three years.
• The Bears started the 2020 season 5-1, their best start since 2012, before suffering a six-game skid. Over the final six games the Bears averaged 30.2 points per game, including a four-game stretch with 30-plus points for the first time since 1965.
• The Bears opened the 2020 season with two come-from-behind wins in their first three games, becoming the first team in NFL history to rally to win two contests in which they trailed by at least 16 points in the fourth quarter. In the season opener in Detroit, Mitchell Trubisky threw three touchdown passes in the final period to turn a 23-6 deficit into a 27-23 win over the Lions. The Bears showed the same resiliency two weeks later, staging another furious rally in Atlanta. This time, Nick Foles replaced Trubisky and threw three TD passes in the final 6:20 of regulation to turn a 26-10 deficit into a 30-26 win over the Falcons.
• QB ANDY DALTON has started 142 of 144 career games while throwing for 33,764 yards, 218 touchdowns and 126 interceptions while completing 62.2 percent of his passes.
• Dalton is 2-1 in three career starts vs. the Rams, completing 67 of 105 passes for 741 yards, four TDs and two INTs. Last season Dalton threw for 329 yards and a touchdown as the Cowboys fell at the Rams 24-10 in Week 8.
• Dalton also has 22 career rushing touchdowns, the fourth most in the NFL among quarterbacks since entering the league in 2011.
• Dalton boasts a record of 74-66-2 as a starter and left Cincinnati as the Bengals’ all-time leader in career passer rating (87.5), 300-yard passing games (28), winning percentage (.533), completions (2,757) and touchdowns (204).
• WR ALLEN ROBINSON II ranks third in the NFL among wide receivers with 2,397 receiving yards over the past two seasons (Diggs 2,665; Hopkins 2,572), recording 1,147 yards in 2019 and 1,250 yards in 2020.
• Robinson has at least one reception in all 88 career games heading into the 2021 season. He owns 16 games of 100+ receiving yards and his eight career multi-touchdown performances.
• Robinson is tied for first in Bears annals with five 10+ reception games with Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery.
• WR DARNELL MOONEY set a Bears record for most receptions by a rookie wide receiver by snagging 61 in 2020. He also recorded 631 yards and had four touchdowns.
• RB DAVID MONTGOMERY has a streak of six consecutive regular season games with a touchdown dating to Week 12 of the 2020 season.
• Montgomery finished the 2020 season with 1,508 yards from scrimmage (1,070 rushing) and was one of five players in the NFL with over 1,500+ yards from scrimmage. Montgomery was also the only NFL running back with more than 1,000 rushing yards and 400 receiving yards.
• Montgomery was tied for third among NFL running backs with the most games with at least 100 scrimmage yards in 2020: Derrick Henry, TEN – 10; Dalvin Cook, MIN – 9; Nick Chubb, CLE – 8; David Montgomery, CHI, 8.
• TE JIMMY GRAHAM needs one more reception to become the sixth tight end in NFL history to hit 700 for his career, joining Tony Gonzalez (1,325), Jason Witten (1,228), Antonio Gates (955), Shannon Sharpe (815) and Greg Olsen (742).
• Graham also would join the company of Hall of Fame tight ends Gonzalez and Gates as the only three TEs to eclipse 700+ career receptions, 8,000+ yards and 80+ TDs.
• Graham ranks second among NFL tight ends since 2010 with 8,339 receiving yards, 699 receptions and 82 receiving TDs (Gronkowski 86). He also ranks fourth in NFL history among tight ends with his 82 career TD catches. Last season Graham ranked second in the NFC among tight ends with his eight TD catches and tied for fourth among all tight ends.
• Six-time Pro Bowl LB KHALIL MACK returns for his fourth season in Chicago in 2021. His 22 forced fumbles since the start of 2015 are the most in the NFL during that span.
• Mack has recorded at least 1.0 sack in 23 games for \the Bears, with the Bears going 16-6 in those games (7-2 in 2018, 5-2 in 2019 and 4-3 in 2020). He has 66.5 sacks since the start of 2015, the third most in the NFL in that span, and has 21.0 3rd-quarter sacks since the start of 2015, the most in the NFL.
• In 13 primetime games with the Bears, Mack has 11.0 sacks, eight forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown.
• Mack had a team-high nine sacks in 2020 and is one of two players in the NFL (Aaron Donald) with at least eight sacks in each of the last six seasons. Since entering the NFL in 2014, he is one of seven players with at least 70 sacks (70.5) and is tied with Chandler Jones for the league lead with 23 forced fumbles during that span.
• In his first season with the Bears, LB ROBERT QUINN registered three forced fumbles, and his 27 career forced fumbles are tied with Jones (27) for the most among active players. He is the only player in the NFL with multiple forced fumbles in each of the past eight seasons.
• LB ROQUAN SMITH led the team with 139 tackles last season, his third-consecutive season with at least 100 tackles, and ranked second in the NFL with a career-high 18 tackles for loss. Since entering the league in 2018, he is one of five players with at least 300 tackles (360), 20 tackles for loss (31) and 10 sacks (11).
• DB JAYLON JOHNSON led all rookies and tied for sixth in the NFL with 15 passes defensed in 2020.
• DB EDDIE JACKSON has six defensive touchdowns in his career, the most in the NFL since he entered the league in 2017. The first two came in the same game vs. Carolina (10/22/17), a 75-yard fumble return and a 76-yard interception return. His third score was a 65-yard fumble return at Buffalo (11/4/18). His fourth was a 27-yard interception return vs. Minnesota (11/18/18) and the fifth was the very next week, a 41-yard interception return at Detroit on Thanksgiving (11/22/18). His sixth was an 8-yard fumble return at the Rams last season.
• K CAIRO SANTOS finished the 2020 season with a streak of 27 consecutive field goals made between Weeks 3-17, breaking both the Bears single-season and all-time record for consecutive makes.
• Head coach MATT NAGY is 11-7 against the NFC North in his head coaching career, including 10-2 against the Lions and Vikings.
• Nagy finished the 2020 season one win behind former coach Lovie Smith (29) for the most wins by a Bears head coach through three seasons.
• Nagy has a 16-6 record when the Bears offense scores more than 24+ points since 2018.
• Nagy has a 21-9 record when the Bears offense scores more than 20+ points since 2018.
• Nagy is 9-2 in September games, the only losses were Week 1 in 2018 and 2019. Last year was the Bears first undefeated month of September since 2010.
• Only 48 games into his Bears’ coaching tenure, Matt Nagy has strung together six win streaks of three or more games, ranking fourth all-time among Chicago coaches.
Coach Games 3+ win streaks
1. George Halas 497 46
2. Mike Ditka 168 16
3. Lovie Smith 144 10
4. Matt Nagy 48 7
5. Dave Wannstedt 96 5
• The Bears are 5-1 on short weeks under Matt Nagy (coming off Monday night or playing on Thursday night).
BEARS OPEN UP IN PRIMETIME
The Bears will open up the season at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., the site of Super Bowl LVI, against the L.A. Rams on Sunday Night Football. This will mark the fourth straight year facing the Rams, all coming in primetime, with the last three in Los Angeles. The last time the Bears opened the season on SNF was in 2018, a 24-23 loss at Green Bay. Chicago is opening the season at the Rams for the first time since 1950, a 24-20 win at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Bears have opened the regular season in primetime on seven previous occasions, going 3-4 in those games:
• 9/14/1987 vs. NYG (W, 34-19)
• 9/2/1996 vs. DAL (W, 22-6)
• 9/1/1997 at GB (L, 38-24)
• 9/7/2008 at IND (W, 29-13)
• 9/13/2009 at GB (L, 21-15)
• 9/9/2018 at GB (L, 23-24)
• 9/5/2019 vs GB (L, 3-10)
KICKOFF WEEKEND
The Bears own 55 opening day victories (55-41-5, .569), the second most by any NFL franchise (Green Bay; 58-39-3, .595). Last season the Bears defeated the Lions in Detroit in Week 1, Chicago’s first opening week victory since 2013.
ALTERNATING HOME/AWAY
Chicago will alternate home and road games throughout the season for the first time in franchise history.
TWO ON MONDAY NIGHT
For the second consecutive year the Bears will play two games on ESPN’s Monday Night Football: Week 9 at the Pittsburgh Steelers and Week 15 at home vs. the Minnesota Vikings. Last season the Bears played at the Rams and were home against the Vikings. Prior to last year, the last time the Bears played two MNF games was the 2016 season, falling to the Eagles in Week 2 at home before defeating the Vikings in Week 8 on Halloween night. Chicago also played two MNF games in 2014, 2013, 2012 (3 games), 2011 and 2010.
TURKEY DAY IN DETROIT
The Bears will face NFC North rival Detroit on Thanksgiving Day for the third time in the last four years. Chicago defeated the Lions 23-16 at Ford Field on Turkey Day in 2018 and again in 2019, 24- 20. The Bears own an all-time record of 19-15-2 on Thanksgiving, including a 10-8 record vs. the Lions. Chicago has won its last three games on Thanksgiving (2015 at GB, 2018 & 2019 at DET).
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL AT LAMBEAU
The Bears and Packers will continue their streak of playing at least one game a season in primetime, a streak which dates back to the 2006 season. The 2018 meeting at Green Bay marked the eighth consecutive season in which Bears traveled to Lambeau Field for a primetime matchup, with the 2021 season marking the 10th time in 11 years playing under the lights at Lambeau. The 2019 game in Green Bay marked the first day game for the Bears at Lambeau since 2010.
BEARS TAKE ON NFC WEST, AFC NORTH DIVISIONS
Chicago will square off against all four teams from the NFC West and AFC North Divisions this season in addition to the New York Giants (home), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (away) and Las Vegas Raiders (away). The Bears are 147-107-10 (.576) all-time against the NFC West and 35-24-1 (.592) against the AFC North. Chicago last faced the NFC West in 2018, winning all four against the Cardinals, Seahawks, Rams and 49ers, and the AFC North in 2017, when Chicago also won all four meetings against the Steelers, Ravens, Bengals and Browns.
