The 2021 NFL season is underway, which means Sunday Night Football is back. To end the first full Sunday of NFL action, the Chicago Bears will face the Los Angeles Rams at the new SoFi Stadium. The game will kick off at 8:20 p.m ET on NBC. It will also stream on Peacock, the NBC Sports Sports App and the Yahoo Sports App.
Both teams are looking to make a run at the Super Bowl. Last year, the Bears reached the playoffs but lost to the New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round. This led to the Bears making a change at quarterback, signing Andy Dalton and drafting Justin Fields in the first round of this year’s NFL draft. Fans want Fields to start right away, but the Bears are going with the veteran Dalton on Sunday.
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“That’s the worst thing you can do is look over your shoulder. I think that’s understanding that is key,” Dalton said to WGN 9 in Chicago. “Tuning out the stuff you don’t need to focus on. Knowing where you need to put your time and effort and all that kinda stuff. I think that’s just where I’m at. You don’t worry about all the other stuff.”
There is no quarterback competition with the Rams as the team traded Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford earlier this year. Stafford looks to give the offense a boost after finishing the 2020 season 23rd in the NFL in scoring (23.3 points per game). The Rams reached the playoffs last season, losing to the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round.
“I love doing this,” Stafford said, per the Associated Press. “A bunch of different changes for me this offseason, too. Battled through a bunch of things. Moved my family across the country. I want to go play some football and do it with a group of guys that I’ve, in a short period of time, grown to just absolutely love and respect. … I’m just excited to go out there with these guys as a team and see what we got.” Arguably, the best player on the field will be Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald. He won his third Defensive Player of the Year Award last season, after recording 45 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks and four forced fumbles.
