Previewing the Titans vs. Bears Matchup
Mama we made it! It feels so right for it to finally be game week after the Titans haven’t played since early January. This Sunday at 12pm central your Tennessee Titans will go on the road into the Bears den at Soldier Field in Chicago. At the turn of the century fans would expect a defensive slugfest between two equally tough and physical teams with minute offensive scoring. However, those days are long gone and both the Tennessee Titans and the Chicago Bears are looking to remake their franchises in the image of the 21st century high flying box-office scoring offenses.
The Titans and the Bears have each heavily invested in their teams throughout the offseason. The Titans added stud WRs in Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd; The Bears added stud WRs in Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze. The Bears locked down one of the best corners in football — Jaylon Johnson. The Titans nabbed one of the best corners in football — L’Jarius Sneed.
The Titans in a lot of ways mirror the Bears. Each fanbase is riding the high of stellar offseason that saw both GM’s do no wrong. Ran Carthon has done a phenomenal job reviving the Titans roster from its previously comatose state. There’s been such an incredible amount of turnover from last year’s roster that if I were to take the time to list it all out Carthon make me start over again after adding someone like Haason Reddick. With Ran there’s not much out of the realm of possibility that he’ll do to help the Titans reach a SuperBowl.
In addition, this is Brian Callahan’s first real game as a head coach. So far, from his stint in the preseason, things look pretty good for the first year head coach. Obviously Coach Callahan has much to learn and there will be a learning curve — he’s only coached in the preseason afterall. However, I don’t think there’s anyone in STSP who doesn’t have faith in Coach Callahan. On the other end of the field Callahan will go to battle against Matt Eberflus — the once former DC of the Colts from 2018-2021. Eberflus has gone 10-24 over the past two years — however, to be fair he’s had an overgrown Malik Willis as his QB for the past two years. Now, the Titans will be facing a rookie QB in Caleb Williams who has already been anointed by the media as the next great NFL QB. Whereas, at the same time Will Levis has been deemed a bust as the Titans are set to draft Shedeur Sanders in next year’s draft. If you’re a Titans fan you’re all too familiar with this script. The national media will always continue to underrate the Titans, and that’s honestly how it should be until proven otherwise. The Titans play much better when the stakes are high for the opposing team instead of the weight straddling their own shoulders.
Will Levis will get his first look with new weapons: Tony Pollard, Tyler Boyd, and Calvin Ridley. Thankfully, he has someone other than Andre Dilliard protecting his blindside. JC Latham has already shown throughout preseason that he’s light years better than the past two busts the Titans brought in to protect the QB. Levis should be able to thrive in this new look offense that’s now at the helm of HC Brian Callahan — specifically for the fact that he’s an offensive minded coach that’s worked with some of the best QBs in NFL history. The Titans offense won’t run roughshod over the Bears defense. Although this isn’t the early or mid 2000s Bears they’re a tough unit. One familiar face that Titans fans will see grace their TV sets is none other than the former Mayor of Murfreesboro — Kevin Byard. The Bears picked up the former Titans and Eagles safety during the Free Agent period of the offseason. Although many fans, including myself, felt it was time to move on it would be apropros for Byard to play the game of his life against the Titans. Not only that but the Titans will need to find ways to game plan Ridley, or even Hopkins (pending injury), if they end up matched up against Pro Bowl CB Jaylon Johnson. However, Levis should find more success targeting whoever is lined up against Tyrique Stevenson who gave up 72 receptions and 9 TDs last year with an average QB rating of 100.4 per PFF.
The Titans run game led by Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears should see success as former Titan Demarcus Walker, Tremaine Edwards, Montez Sweat, Gervon Dexter, and Andrew Billings headline the the front seven. Edwards, the long time NFL vet, will be leading the charge to stop the Titans run game. With the Titans revamped offensive line it might take some time for them to gel and week one won’t be the finished product from Bill Callahan’s OL. However, the Titans OL should do enough to move guys off their spot and allow Pollard and Spears to gain positive yardage throughout the game.
.@Titans o-line coach Bill Callahan on the challenge his group faces on Sunday vs the @ChicagoBears. pic.twitter.com/GJ0uFkDSA8
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) September 5, 2024
The Titans defense will face an intriguingly difficult matchup as they’ll be tasked with stopping Pro Bowl WRs: DJ Moore and Keenan Allen; all while stopping the ever elusive rookie QB Caleb Williams. The Bears will probably look to get Williams to be at his best, which is usually on the move. The Titans defense will need to be smart and let Williams come to them, and play their part right. Dennard Wilson should have something special planned for Caleb Williams come Sunday afternoon. Both Jeffrey Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat will have a large role in the game plan to stop the Bears. Sweat will need to play two gap while the Bears interior OL will be responsible for trying to stop Pro Bowl DL Jeffrey Simmons. It’s unquestionably a mismatch if Sweat is able to do what Wilson asks of him.
On the edge both Harold Landry and Arden Key will have their hands full trying to affect Caleb Williams this Sunday. At the end of last year Landry was playing as good as anyone. Key on the other hand was wildly inconsistent last year. With the addition of Sweat and Landry back from injury Key’s ability to rush the passer should be greatly boosted.
With the addition of D’Andre Swift at RB and Gerald Everett at TE this offseason it makes the Bears that much more lethal. With Kenneth Murray Jr. and Jack Gibbens getting the start they’ll need to play smart and sound football to meet the challenges stemming from the various weapons the Bears have on the field. Newly acquired LB Ernest Jones IV should see the field at times in special packages. DC Dennard Wilson will certainly ramp up Jones’ production as time goes on. For now though he’s behind Gibbens not because he’s not good enough, but more so a lack of comfortability in Wilson’s system.
The secondary of the Titans should be the most fun to watch. With the addition of Pro Bowl CB L’Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie the Titans finally have competent CB play going into the season. Defending against DJ Moore shouldn’t be a problem for Sneed after only allowing him 1 catch for 3 yards last year. The Titans additions of Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams will also help the Titans immensely. Afterall, it was Dennard Wilson who completely signed off on both players as key cogs to the defense. Jamal Adams has been ruled out for Sunday. The good news is the Titans are deep enough that they shouldn’t miss Adams a ton. Amani Hooker and Diggs should be able to hold it down mostly. Adams, when healthy, should be more of a bonus piece for Dennard Wilson to utilize in specific situations to help blitz or play in low zone coverage.
Prediction: The game will be close. I don’t see anyway that the Titans blow out the Bears or vice versa. The Titans will find success as will the Bears and it could very well come down to the last drive of the game. However, at the end of the day I trust the Titans offense much more against the Bears defense than the inverse. The Titans pull out a close one 24-21 in Chicago.
