Bear Digest

Chicago Bears and Tennessee Titans Game Day Preview

A look at the key numbers and matchups in Sunday's noon game at Soldier Field between the Bears and Titans, as Chicago QB Caleb Williams makes his NFL debut.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams walks off after several big plays in a win during preseason over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Caleb Williams walks off after several big plays in a win during preseason over the Cincinnati Bengals. / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
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Tennessee Titans at Chicago Bears

Kickoff: Noon Sunday

Where: Soldier Field, Chicago

TV: Fox 32, NFL Network (Adam Amin, Mark Sanchez, Kristina Pink)

Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

Sirius XM Radio: Channels 158, 229

Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

The Line: Fanduel, Bears by 3 1/2, over/under 44 1/2.
Draft Kings Bears by 3 1/2, over/under 44 1/2.

The Matchup: The Bears open with three straight games against NFC South opponents, and hope to extend the momentum they built with a 4-0 preseason and five wins in their final eight games last regular season. QB Caleb Williams makes his first start in the new offense under coordinator Shane Waldron, with Keenan Allen, DJ Moore and Rome Odunze available to target. The Titans have rebuilt both the offense and defense since last year, adding top receivers Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd to DeAndre Hoplins to benefit second-year QB Will Levis. Last year Levis, a second-round pick, started nine times and Tennessee won three. Levis, a 6-foot-4, 229-pound QB, will scramble and reminds some of Josh Allen. He had an 84.2 passer rating last year. The Bears are hoping to see Williams throw less often from outside the pocket on the run, but effectively when he does. They also have to worry about how he handles the blitz because he has said he needs to improve there. and the Titans will blitz out ofi their 3-4 scheme.

Series Record: Tennessee leads 7-6. The Bears have losing record in the series at Soldier Field, 2-4. Tennessee won the last game 24-17 at Nashville in 2020 and has won three of the last four.

Coaches: Titans coach Brian Callahan is in first game as a head coach. He was offensive coordinator for Cincinnati from 2019-23 and is the son of Bill Callahan, Chicago area native and former Browns offensive line coach who is now with the Titans offensive line coach.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus is 10-24 in his third season, 7-10 at home. The Bears were 7-10 last season and in last place in the NFC North.

Injury Report: For Tennessee, S Jamal Adams (hip) and LB Otis Reese (concussion) are out; WR DeAndre Hopkins is questionable (knee). For the Bears, DT Zacch Pickens (groin) is out; DE Montez Sweat (toe), WR Keenan Allen (heel), DE Darrell Taylor (foot), DE DeMarcus Walker (groin) are questionable but coach Matt Eberflus says Allen and Sweat are expected to play.

Of Note: The Titans are 32-32 all time in season openers. ... Hopkins has caught passes in 162 straight games, every game he has played and third longest streak of all time (Marvin Harrison 190, Keyshawn Johnson 167). ... Bears safety Kevin Byard has 121 straight games played, longest defensive streak in the NFL among current players. Titans S Quandre Diggs is starting his 67th straight games tied for the third-longest streak. ... Titans kicker Nick Folk made a career high 96.7% of his field goals last year to lead the NFL. His career percentage is 83.8%. ... Williams is the first Bears player drafted with the No. 1 overall pick since Bob Fenimore in 1947. ... Montez Sweat last year had 12 1/2 sacks and became the first player to lead two teams (Washington 6 1/2, Bears 6) in sacks. ... It's the third straight year the Bears have opened at home. They are 30-14-1 at home on opening day.

Key Individual Matchups

Bears CB Jaylon Johnson vs. Titans WR Calvin Ridley: Ridley, who has gone over 1,000 yards twice in five seasons, is a real threat in the red zone and going deep. He has 36 career TD catches but has been below 60% for a catch/target ratio the last two seasons he played. Ridley has a bit of a height advantage at 6-1, 190 and ran 4.43 in the 40 when he was coming into the league. Johnson was No. 1 in the league among cornerbacks last year according to Pro Football Focus grades and is ranked No. 5 this year by PFF. He had a career-high four interceptions last season and allowed a 50.9 passer rating against last year when targeted. Ridley has faced the Bears only once and that was in 2020, when Johnson was a rookie. He caught five passes for 110 yards in a 30-26 Bears win.

Bears WR Keenan Allen vs. Titans Slot CB Roger McCreary: McCreary, now in his third season, dropped his passer rating against last year from 105.9 to a solid 85.3 while making one of his two career interceptions. He still allowed 71.6% completions when targeted. Allen, the Bears slot receiver in three-wide packages, last year played against the Titans and made eight catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns. The previous year, when McCreary was a rookie, Allen had eight catches for 86 yards. They'll use Allen as their "Z" receiver on the outside when they go to 12-personnel packages. There have been reports about Allen being out of shape and injured, but he usually overcomes such obstacles when he's healthy enough to play.

Bears RB D'Andre Swift vs. Titans LB Ernest Jones: The Titans traded with the Rams for Jones at the end of training camp and acquired one of the higher graded linebackers in the league in 2023. PFF gave him an 86.2 run-stopping grade last year when he made 18 tackles for loss. Jones will need to try and fit into the new scheme. As a blitzer, he had 30 pressures last year. Trying to guard Swift will not be easy. Swift is coming off his first 1,000-yard season as a rusher and has averaged 48 receptions a season and 4.6 yards per rush.

Bears DE Montez Sweat vs. Titans RT Nicholas Petit-Frere: Sweat comes off career-highs of12 1/2 sacks and 40 pressures last season but is nursing a toe injury. He'll sometimes line up on the opposite side against Titans rookie tackle JC Latham. But most of his snaps will be against Petit-Frere, who played only 117 snaps last year due to suspension and injury. Petit-Frere allowed three sacks and committed four penalties. Last year the 6-foot-6, 316-pound former Buckeye graded out among the worst pass blockers in the league according to PFF, at a 27.8. In 2022 he gave up five sacks and committed eight penalties.

Bears WR DJ Moore vs. Titans CB L'Jarius Sneed: The 6-1, 192-pound Sneed was traded by the Chiefs to the Titans after his fourth season. He made 25 pass breakups over the last two seasons and has 10 career interceptions. He also has forced four fumbles. Sneed brought his passer rating against down from 84.2 to 56.2 last year. Moore is coming off a career year with 96 catches fof 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns. Now he'll likely be targeted less in a receiver corps with talented players like Allen and Rome Odunze. Moore's all-around skills as a receiver allow him to be a threat downfield and even in the screen game, and his speed is enough that he is the best Bears catch-and-run receiver. He was eighth in the NFL in YAC last year with 539 yards. Moore went up against Sneed in the Chiefs game last year and had just one catch.

Bears RG Nate Davis vs. Titans DL Jeffery Simmons: Simmons is a 6-4, 305-pound attacking defensive end in this scheme, or defensive tackle in four-man line. He has 26 1/2 sacks in five seasons and 38 tackles for loss. It was Simmons who during the offseason said he was going to knock the nail polish off of QB Caleb Williams' fingernails after the schedule came out and they were playing the Bears in the opener. Davis is a former Titans offensive lineman who struggled with injuries last year and this offseason and preseason, but he appears to be healthy now and has been for more than three weeks. Davis gave up one sack and committed six penalties last year but played in just 10 games and was one of the least effective Bears blockers, according to PFF. His strength has been pulling and blocking in the outside zone scheme. With the Titans, the 6-3, 316-pounder gave up only one sack in the 2020 season, which might have been his best, but he has been less effective since then.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain

GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.