The San Francisco 49ers travel to the Windy City to open the season as they take on the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. This year will officially be the start of the Trey Lance era in SF as the Niners hand over the quarterbacking duties to the 2nd year pro. For the Bears, they welcome a new coach in Matt Eberflus, the former DC of the Colts, and he will oversee the continued development of their 2nd year quarterback, Justin Fields. Both teams will look to get off to a fast start in 2022. The opening kick is set for 1:00pm EST.
SF head coach Kyle Shanahan had this plan in place the day that he drafted Trey Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft. He envisioned the speedy, big-armed Lance as the perfect quarterback to run his offense and lead the 49ers back to past glory. Then, a funny thing happened, incumbent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo nearly led the Niners to the Super Bowl before being upended by the eventual Super Bowl Champions Rams in the NFC title game. Still, Shanahan stuck to his plan and most assumed Garoppolo would be gone by training camp. Instead, the 49ers agreed to a revised contract to retain Garoppolo as the backup to new starter Trey Lance. The pressure is now on Lance to get the job or face scrutiny as long as he has Garoppolo there ready to step in.
“We all know how it would go,” Shanahan said. “We understand that. The fact that he has a successful quarterback behind him, it's obvious how that narrative will be and understandabl y so.”
All the parts are in place for the 49ers this season. After a tumultuous offseason, they re-signed Deebo Samuels, they have all-everything tight end George Kittle, the NFL's best fullback in Kyle Juszczyk, and a top flight defense. There are many that will be disappointed at anything short of a repeat appearance in the NFC Championship game this season. Lance gives the Niners a legitimate throwing and running threat at quarterback and will force defenses to keep an eye on him. When he stays in the pocket, rifle-armed quarterback has one of the best duos in the NFL in Samuels and Kittle. The duo combined for 2,700 total yards, 148 catches and 20 touchdowns last year. The one concern with Lance is his accuracy. He only completed 57% of his passes in limited duty last season. He will have to improve those numbers to keep defenses from keeping players in the box to prevent the Niners potent ground game.
On the hunt. #SFvsCHI pic.twitter.com/0ic1k6eJPI
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 9, 2022
The 49ers return many of the key pieces that made them the NFL's third ranked total defense. Also, despite having a secondary that was flagged for a league-high 21 pass-interference penalties and the fifth fewest interceptions, they gave up the sixth-fewest passing yards on the season. They did go out and try to improve the secondary by signing former Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward. They have depth and talent in the secondary, they just have to cut down the penalties. One reason the secondary had the success they had in 2021 was the dominance of the 49ers front seven. They added another piece to the defensive line puzzle in the draft by taking USC edge rusher Drake Jackson to pair with Pro Bowl end Nick Bosa. The linebacking crew is top-notch led by All-Pro Fred Warner. This group will help keep the Niners in each game as Lance continues to develop.
Injury Report: DB Jimmie Ward is on Injured Reserve while the Niners will monitor the status of George Kittle (groin) and LB Dre Greenlaw (elbow). Ward's loss stings as does the fact that Kittle appears dinged up yet again to start the season.