Who plays Sunday Night Football tonight in Week 1 of the 2021 season? The Chicago Bears head out to the West Coast to face the Los Angeles Rams in SoFi Stadium. Both teams feature QBs taking their first regular-season snaps for their new teams. NBC has hosting duties as the Sunday Night Football TV channel again this season. Here’s all the information on where, when, and how you can watch tonight’s Sunday Night Football broadcast or live stream.
Sunday Night Football tonight | Bears at Rams
- Start time: 8:15 PM ET
- TV channel: NBC
- Live streams:
- NBC Sports App
- Hulu Live TV
- FuboTV
- YouTubeTV
- Locast (select markets)
- AT&T TV
- NFL Game Pass
What to expect from Bears at Rams?
The Bears and Rams go into their Week 1 tilt starting quarterbacks who are brand new to their teams. Earlier this year, the Rams sent their 2022 and 2023 first-round draft picks, a 2021 third-round draft pick (CB Ifeatu Melifonwu), and QB Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions in exchange for QB Matthew Stafford.
A talented signal-caller surrounded by mediocrity outside of Hall of Fame WR Calvin “Megatron” Johnson, Stafford finally gets a chance to play under a head coach with offensive prowess in Sean McVay. This blockbuster offseason trade will be heavily discussed on Sunday Night Football tonight.
The team also acquired New England Patriots RB Sony Michel via a trade in August. Meanwhile, Aaron Donald and Co. will try and keep their momentum rolling as the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense from the 2020 season.
A quarterback conundrum
Chicago’s story is completely different. The Bears moved on from 2017 second-overall pick QB Mitchell Trubisky and selected Ohio State QB Justin Fields with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. While many fans are anxious for Fields’ Chicago debut, it’s not likely to happen tonight on Sunday Night Football.
Despite seeming to find more success with the offense in the preseason than his QB counterpart Andy Dalton, head coach Matt Nagy is starting the veteran over Fields. Nagy gave Dalton his vote of confidence early in the offseason, but Chicago fans will not allow a talented rookie to waste away if the current starter struggles. Dalton’s first crack at appeasing his fan base will be no easy task.
Tackle Jason Peters will be defending his QB’s blindside, but outside of that, there are serious questions along the offensive line. Dalton should expect plenty of pressure throughout this Sunday Night Football game. The Bears have a fair share of players on the defense recovering from injury. Will everyone be ready to go to play spoiler to Stafford’s Rams debut? The closest Chicago got to playing a team that could mimic their opponent was the first half of their preseason game against Buffalo … and it was not pretty.
Buried by their former QB Trubisky, Buffalo cruised to a 34-6 first-half lead. Yes, the Bears were missing starters, but the position battles for available starter jobs did not look too promising. This game obviously matters and will be different, but Chicago’s chances of winning seem faint at best. Stafford and the Rams should cruise to victory.