FIRST AND 10
• Chicago is facing the Bengals for the first time since the 2017 season, a 33-7 Bears victory at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.
• Chicago is 5-6 all-time against the Bengals.
• The Bears are 67-30-4 all-time in home openers, the most victories of any franchise in home openers.
• 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 9-3 in September games in his three-plus seasons as head coach. His only three losses are season openers in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
• Bears QB ANDY DALTON is facing his former team for the second time after starting in Cincinnati for the Cowboys last December. Dalton spent nine seasons as the starting quarterback for the Bengals, leading the team to the postseason in each of his first five seasons. He went 70-61-2 as the starting QB for the Bengals, the most wins by a quarterback in franchise history.
• Dalton 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), touchdowns (204) and touchdown/interception ratio (1.73).
• Last week TE JIMMY GRAHAM became the sixth tight end in NFL history to record 700 career receptions. He also joins 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 rushed for 108 yards on 16 carries (6.8 avg) in Week 1 at the Rams. He became the first Bears RB to rush for 100+ yards in a season-opener since Matt Forte did so at Green Bay in 2015. Montgomery now has a streak of seven consecutive regular-season games with a TD, dating back to Week 12 of the 2020 season.
• K CAIRO SANTOS currently has a streak of 27 consecutive field goals made in the regular season, a Bears record, and a streak that started in Week 3 last year at the Falcons.
GAME NOTES
• Bears QB ANDY DALTON is facing his former team for the second time after starting in Cincinnati for the Cowboys last December.
• Dalton spent nine seasons as the starting quarterback for the Bengals, leading the team to the postseason in each of his first five seasons. He went 70-61-2 as the starting QB for the Bengals, the most wins by a quarterback in franchise history.
• Dalton 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), touchdowns (204) and touchdown interception ratio (1.73).
• Dalton also has 22 career rushing touchdowns, the fourth most in the NFL among quarterbacks since entering the league in 2011.
• QB JUSTIN FIELDS rushed for his first NFL touchdown with 4:14 left in the third quarter on in Week 1 at the Rams. Dating to 1960, Fields is the first Bears rookie quarterback to rush for a touchdown in a season opener. He was the Bears seventh quarterback overall to score a rushing touchdown in Week 1 and it marked the 13th overall rushing TD by a Chicago quarterback in Week 1.
• WR ALLEN ROBINSON II ranks fifth in the NFL among wide receivers with 2,432 receiving yards over the past three-plus seasons (Diggs 2,734; Hopkins 2,655; Moore 2,448; Cooper 2,442).
• Robinson has at least one reception in all 89 career games. He owns 16 games of 100+ receiving yards and has 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 seven consecutive regular season games with a touchdown dating to Week 12 of the 2020 season.
• Montomerg rushed for 108 yards on 16 carries (6.8 avg) in Week 1 at the Rams. He became the first Bears RB to rush for 100+ yards in a season-opener since Matt Forte did so at Green Bay in 2015. Montgomery now has a streak of seven consecutive regular-season games with a TD, dating back 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 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.
• In Week 1 at the Rams, TE JIMMY GRAHAM became the sixth tight end in NFL history to record 700 career receptions. He joins 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.
• Graham ranks second among NFL tight ends since 2010 with 8,350 receiving yards, 700 receptions and 82 receiving TDs (Gronkowski 88). 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 14 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 Chandler 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, 20 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.
• 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 9-3 in September games, the only losses were Week 1 in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Last year was the Bears first undefeated month of September since 2010.
• Only 49 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).
