49ers to open season at Chicago Bears same weekend of Giants-Cubs

What would a 49ers’ season opener at the Chicago Bears mean?

Look beyond an enticing matchup of quarterbacks Trey Lance and Justin Fields.

It would be a weekend bonanza for San Francisco sports fans, because the Giants are in town at the same time to face the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

The NFL officially will unveil this season’s schedule tonight at 5 p.m., but a 49ers-Bears opener is being reported by Danny Parkins of Chicago’s WSCR-AM 670. He did not specify if the game would fall on either Sunday, Sept. 11 or Monday night, Sept. 12.

On Friday through Sunday of that same weekend, the Giants will visit the Cubs in a three-game series, their only meeting in Chicago this season.

Football-wise, all eyes will be on the 49ers’ and Bears’ quarterbacks from the 2021 draft class.

Lance was the No. 3 overall draft pick last year, and he’s projected to take over the 49ers’ quarterback reigns after starting two games as a rookie understudy to Jimmy Garoppolo.

Fields was the No. 11 pick, and he went 2-8 as the Bears’ starter, including an Oct. 31 loss to Garoppolo and the 49ers. Fields threw for 175 yards and ran for 103 yards, with a touchdown both passing and rushing, in that 33-22 Bears loss. Lance did not play that game as Garoppolo passed for 322 yards and ran for two touchdowns.

Garoppolo, you may have heard, remains on the 49ers’ roster after March shoulder surgery foiled a potential trade.

Fields lost his final seven starts as a rookie before getting sidelined by health issues (ribs, ankle, COVID).

The Bears went 6-11 last season, fired coach Matt Nagy and replaced him with Matt Eberflus, formerly the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator.

The 49ers are 2-3 in season openers under Kyle Shanahan, and those wins came on the road (2019 in Tampa Bay, 2021 in Detroit) to launch playoff-bound seasons.