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With the impending debut of both Andy Dalton and Justin Fields, I wanted to rank the team debuts of each Chicago Bears quarterback from the last 25 years. That means I’ll be starting with Dave Krieg in 1996 and ending with the mighty Nick Foles in 2020.
In order to qualify for the list, the quarterback would have to either start the game or make a majority of the snaps in the game or have at least 25 pass attempts.
Disclaimer: This is a very depressing list of performances (like every Bears quarterback).
#28 Todd Collins:
Week 5 2010: Bears defeat Panthers 23-6
Stat Line: 6-16 for 32 yards, 4 INT, QB Rating = 6.2
#27 Kordell Stewart:
Week 1 2003: 49ers defeat Bears 49-7
Stat Line: 14-34 for 95 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT, QB Rating = 21.9
#26 Craig Krenzel:
Week 7 2004 Buccaneers defeat Bears 19-7
Stat Line: 9-19 for 69 yards 1 INT QB Rating = 34.8
#25 Henry Burris:
Week 16 2002: Panthers defeat Bears 24-14
Stat Line: 8-22 for 50 yards, 1 TD, QB Rating = 60
#24 Rick Mirer:
Week 3 1997: Lions defeat Bears 32-7
Stat Line; 10-21 for 91 yards, 1 INT, QB Rating = 39.8
#23 Jim Miller:
Week 9 1999: Bears defeat Packers 14-13
Stat Line: 16-29 for 142 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT, QB Rating = 40.4
#22 Jason Campbell:
Week 11 2012: 49ers defeat Bears 32-7
Stat Line: 14-22 for 107 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, QB Rating = 52.7
#21 Jay Cutler:
Week 1 2009: Packers defeat Bears 21-15
Stat Line: 17-36 for 277 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT, QB Rating: 43.2
#20 Caleb Hanie:
Week 12 2011: Raiders defeat Bears 25-20
Stat Line: 18-36 for 254 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT, QB Rating = 56.9
#19 Moses Moreno:
Week 13 1998: Buccaneers defeat Bears 31-17
Stat Line: 18-41 for 153 yards, 1 TD, QB Rating = 62.3
#18 Mitch Trubisky:
Week 5 2017: Vikings defeat Bears 20-17
Stat Line: 12-25 for 128 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, QB Rating = 60.1
#17 Kyle Orton:
Week 1 2005: Washington defeat Bears 9-7
Stat Line: 15-28 for 141 yards, 1 INT, QB Rating = 52.8
#16 Brian Griese:
Week 4 2007: Lions defeat Bears 37-27
Stat Line: 34-52 for 286 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT, QB Rating = 68.3
#15 Rex Grossman:
Week 15 2003: Bears defeat Vikings 13-10
Stat Line: 13-30 for 157 yards, QB Rating = 60
#14 Steve Strenstrom:
Week 10 1998: Rams defeat Bears 20-12
Stat Line: 15-25 for 154 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, QB Rating: 74.4
#13 Cade McNown:
Week 6 1999: Eagles defeat Bears 20-16
Stat Line: 17-33 for 255 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, QB Rating = 62.1
#12 Chris Chandler:
Week 7 2002: Lions defeat Bears 23-20
Stat Line: 16-25 for 163 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, QB Rating = 79.2
#11 Josh McCown:
Week 16 2011: Packers defeat Bears 35-21
Stat Line: 19-28 for 242 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, QB Rating = 76.8
#10 Jonathan Quinn:
Week 4 2004: Eagles defeat Bears 19-9
Stat Line: 26-43 for 215 yards, 1 TD, QB Rating = 81.1
Just an all-around solid team debut from Quinn here. Unfortunately, the only thing holding him back is the fact that the team only scored a whopping 9 points against McNabb and the Eagles.
#9 Mike Glennon:
Week 1 2017: Falcons defeat Bears 23-17
Stat Line: 26-40 for 213 yards, 1 TD, QB Rating = 86.8
You have no idea how hard it is of me to put Glennon so high on this list. I hate Glennon so much, but I will be the bigger man and say that he kinda played well this game.
#8 Jimmy Clausen:
Week 16 2014: Lions defeat Bears 20-14
Stat Line: 23-39 for 181 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, QB Rating = 77
Jimmy Clausen’s career was quite disastrous, to say the least, but he was kinda OK for the Bears. He didn’t do too much for us, but he didn’t suck, so good for him.
#7 Dave Krieg:
Week 5 1996: Bears defeat Raiders 19-17
Stat Line: 16-30 for 190 yards, 1 TD, QB Rating = 84
This is a little before my time, but he played well enough to win against the Raiders.
#6 Matt Barkley:
Week 12 2016: Titans defeat Bears 27-21
Stat Line: 28-54 for 316 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT, QB Rating = 72.8
The fact that we let Matt Barkley throw the ball 54 times is ridiculous to me. But the guy balled out. He really didn’t do much wrong outside of the 2 interceptions.
#5 Shane Matthews:
Week 1 1999: Bears defeat Chiefs 20-17
Stat Line: 25-38 for 245 yards, 2 TD, QB Rating = 101.3
Shane Matthews will go down as the coolest name on this list. Any name that sounds like he could be a starting quarterback and a pro surfer is a plus in my book. And hey, he played super well against the Chiefs.
#4 Chase Daniel:
Week 12 2018: Bears defeat Lions 23-16 (Thanksgiving)
Stat Line: 27-37 for 230 yards, 2 TD, QB Rating = 106.8
Making your Bears debut on Thanksgiving is awesome, and winning your first start on Thanksgiving is even better. The defense played amazing, like every game in 2018. Daniel was a great backup to have because he would never play awful enough where you would have to turn the TV off when he’s in.
#3 Brian Hoyer:
Week 3 2016: Cowboys defeat Bears 31-17
Stat Line: 30-49 317 yards, 2 TD, QB Rating = 93.7
There was a point in 2016 where I thought Hoyer would be our guy for the next couple of years. This guy was awesome on the Bears. He put up insane numbers in the early part of 2016 until the injury. Hoyer could have been higher up on this list if the Bears had won the game, but outside of Hoyer and Howard, the Bears really sucked.
#2 Chad Hutchinson:
Week 13 2004: Bears defeat Vikings 24-14
Stat Line: 18-30 for 213 yards, 3 TD, QB Rating = 115
This was probably Hutchinson’s best start on the Bears, and it was a pretty good one. Throwing 3 TDs and beating the Vikings is always great. Too bad he could not keep this going the rest of the time he was in Chicago.
#1 Nick Foles:
Week 3 2020: Bears defeat Falcons 30-26
Stat Line: 16-29 188 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, QB Rating = 95.2
Nick Foles had a stellar debut this past season. Even though I am not a Foles fan, I have to tip my cap to the guy for this game. Coming in for Mitch in the 3rd quarter and being down by three scores is a tall task, even for former Super Bowl MVP. Foles had the swag to come in and just sling it and it ended up working for the Bears and they came back from down 21 points to win by 4.