Bear Digest

Chicago Bears and Tennessee Titans Live Blog: Bears 24, Titans 17 FINAL

In-game reporting and analysis from Soldier Field where Caleb Williams makes his regular-season debut for the Bears against the Titans.

Gene Chamberlain

Harold Landry III brings down D'Andre Swift in the first quarter of the season opener.
Harold Landry III brings down D'Andre Swift in the first quarter of the season opener. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

Fourth Quarter

  • A fourth-and-10 and Jaylon Johnson with the interception locks it up with 1:05 left on a pass to Ridley. He had to throw it up as the pass rush closed in. Rush and cover. Bears win.
  • They managed to get Ridley isolated on Stevenson but he couldn't get open and it led to a second-and-eight incompletion.
  • This is a test of Eberflus' ability to call defenses in final minutes. He wasn't good at this last year.
  • Titans move it to their 42 after a 22-yard completion to Ridley and 2-yarder to Spears. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!
  • Tennessee takes over at its 17 with 2:20 to go and one timeout.
  • They tried to get cute with a bootleg run by Williams and lost yards, so the Bears face third-and-4 at the 41 and DJ Moore gets stacked up on a screen. So it's a punt on fourth-and-7 at the Titans 43.
  • Swift with a swift move in the open field to leap a tackler and gains to the Titans 47 after an 8-yard completion to Velus. The Bears are eating time and moving the ball to take away field position from the Titans.
  • Starting from the 11 and DJ Moore with a smart play running around left end on an end-around when it was stacked up. He waited for the block, then split the defenders to the 25.
  • A third-and-5 for Titans after a short Pollard run. And Levis obviously a bit rattled lets it go too soon and incomplete. Bears getting the ball back with 6:03 left. The pass rush has been swarming. It's been rush and cover.
  • Give credit to former Titan DeMarcus Walker on that TD return. He wrapped up Levis and had the third-down sack, but Levis panicked and flipped it out to the sideline for the pick. Should have eatan the ball.
  • A 43-yard interception return for a TD by Tyrique Stevenson as Levis panics under pressure and then Williams hits Swift for the 2-point try and the Bears gain a 24-17 lead with 7:35 to play. Bears 24, Titans 17
  • Tennessee starts at the 30 and faces third-and-6 after a completion to Tyler Boyd.
  • Cairo Santos hits a 48-yard field goal, third of the game. Titans 17, Bears 16
  • A holding on second down after an in completion as Coleman Shelton was detected grabbing. The Bears are left facing third-and-14 after a short completion at the Tennessee 35 and Williams is forced to scramble to get them into field goal range. Not much of a way to capitalize on takeaway.
  • Strip sack by Darrell Taylor and the recovery by T.J. Edwards at Tennessee 31 sets up the offense with a chance for the lead.
  • The Titans go back to the run and are moving it but then Andrew Billings happens. A TFL and Tennessee faces third-and-7.
  • Cairo Santos a 50-yard field goal with 14:47 left in fourth quarter. A clunky 44-yard drive in 11 plays. Titans 17, Bears 13
  • Williams' cadence draws off Harold Landry III. Now it's third-and-3 and Williams fumbles the snap and has to throw it away deep as Landry hits him passing. So they have to settle for a field goal try.
  • Just 80 yards passing and 42 rushing for the Shane Waldron offense through three quarters.

Third Quarter

  • Travis Homer with a 4-yard run for a first down. A tough one inside that they really needed to establish some physical dominance. Then back to the wide running and 5 from Swift. Bears at the 36 of Tennessee. Getting yards in small increments. Quater ends with a near botched handoff and another loss of 2 yards. Now it's third-and-8.
  • Williams summons up his best Justin Fields imitation and scrambles across field for the first down. Nifty run and a risky one. Then they finally get a nice run of 6 on first down and move the chains on a wide receivescreen to DJ Moore. Williams appears more in sync now, and goes no-huddle after an 8-yard completion to Allen.
  • Titans sniffed out a bootleg pass on first down, then no one was open and Williams tried to ad-lib but threw incomplete with no one open so it's looking bleak again on third-and-10.
  • After a completion over Tyrique Stevenson for 8, it's third-and-3. Short pass fails to gain the 3 and the Bears have it back going for the tie from their own 24. Bates still in at right guard.
  • T.J. Edwards with a 1-yard TFL. Came through the A-gap and jammed it up.
  • Titans penalty meltdowns continue on special teams with an illegal block in the back so they'll start at their own 21 with 5:59 left in the half.
  • The offensive line beat down continues as Swift is tackled for a 4-yard loss and Williams throws wildly under pressure from the rush. Big Mo just left on a third-down incompletion to Rome Odunze. It wouldn't have been a first down anyway.
  • I guess they made the right call on Daniel Hardy active over Dominique Robinson, right? He's not perfect though. He got called for an illegal block in the back on a punt and Bears start at their own 27 instead of the 37. There is 7:02 left in third quarter as they try to tie it.
  • Third-and-12 for Titans as Bears pass rush has heated up and Gervon Dexter with the sack, as Soldier Field totally explodes. Dexter came off left side of defensive line.
  • Northwestern's own Peter Skoronski holds and Titans are in a hole.
  • That's one thing no one talked about with Simone Biles' husband was his special teams skills. He gets around the ball. Hardy had an easy block. Ryan Stonehouse had the ball forever.
  • Blocked punt by Daniel Hardy and 36-yard TD return by Jonathan Owens and the Bears are back in the game when they don't have a right to be. Titans 17, Bears 10
  • A prayer deep route by Ridley and he did get behind Stevenson but overthrown badly on third-and-15.
  • Titans facing a third-and-15 after lineman Dillon Radunz leaves due to an injury.
  • Levis scrambles for the first down and takes a big hit in the ribs from Tremaine Edmunds. Looks like Edmunds got the worst of it though. That's a big qB to brking down.
  • Defense comes out a little more physical with Jaquan Brisker and TJ Edwards stacking up a run. Then a big hit on a short completion by Brisker. Leaves Titans in third-and-5.
  • Falcons 10, Steelers 9. Justin Fields 9 of 12, 92 yards, 27 yards rushing.
  • Williams holds it too long and is sacked for a 10-yard loss. The Bears punt. At least Tory Taylor is feeling at home with all the punts. The Bears offense looks like the Iowa offense from last year.
  • A clutch third-down pass by Williams and catch by Moore for the first down but the drive gets in trouble again after a delay of game and then a false start against Braxton Jones. Third-and-20. Not gonna pick that up.

Halftime

  • Caleb Williams should feel right at home. This is how his USC games usually went. Their defense gave up a bunch of points and left him trying to overcome their inept play.
  • Mike Singletary with an emotional halftime talk about Steve McMichael. His wife Misty was on the field with former teammates. McMichael is "still fighting," says Singletary.
  • 179 yards to 50. That's about as convincing a beat-down as you get in the NFL for a first half.

Second Quarter

  • Titans 104 yards rushing. Bears 16. The Titans finished the half with 115 yards rushing. Their defensive line has dominated the Bears offensive line. Everyone was worried about Williams but he hasn't played poorly. Instead, the guys around him haven't delivered. The line, Allen had a drop, Velus Jones Jr. with the clownish muff and then kicked the ball forward to give the Titans a field goal.
  • Blitz nearly gets home and Williams' pass is batted down, resulting a 24-yard Cairo Santos chip shot. with 27 seconds left. A 9-play, 28-yard drive. Disappointing after that kick return. Titans 17, Bears 3
  • They took out Nate Davis and Ryan Bates is in on this drive. The Bears face third-and-goal at the 6 after Allen dropped a pass at the sidelines.
  • Williams' second-down pass after a loss by Swift on a run was a thing of beauty, drilled confidently into space and leading Moore. The offensive line has been very inconsistent for the Bears. They follow a good play with two bad ones.
  • DeAndre Carter with a jump start. A 66-yard kick return to the Titans 34. I think that just about does it for the Velus Jones Jr. fascination.
  • Williams has been sporadic and looked like any rookie would be expected to look. What happened to the top 5 defense?
  • Okwonkwo makes up for his penalty with a 17-yard TD catch, beating Tyrique Stevenson, who fell backwards on the play and then wasn't there to make a play on an off-target ball. An 8:23 drive on 14 plays and 73 yards finally ends. Titans 17, Bears 0
  • Tennessee false illegal formation. Ridley lined up wrong. Then Chig Okwonkwo false starts and Titans have first-and-goal at the 17. Self-destruction here.
  • Free play for an incompletion because Sweat jumped offsides and the Titans are at the Bears 7, first and goal. Defense is not playing well at point of attack.
  • Titans drive continues on inside five minutes after two runs and they face a third-and-5 at the Bears 12.
  • They really do want to go for it and a wide receiver screen nets the first down by a yard at the Bears 32. Then Levis withthe RPO run up the middle to the 17 for 15 yards. That one caught the Bears linebackers totally by surprise.
  • On fourth-and-3 after a 9-yard scramble, Titans consider going for it at the Bears 35.
  • Play-action deep and Calvin Ridley appears open but Jaylon Johnson recovers at the end for a PBU. TJ Edwards then makes a tackle for loss on a screen and Titans face third-and-12.
  • Pollard's short catch going to the ground on second down leaves a third-and-1 for the Titans, they easily get it as Spears comes in and runs off left guard for 5. Titans run blocking has been sporadic, but when it's there the holes are huge.
  • Ridley gets open against the zone and Levis has plenty of time to find him. First down at the 44. Nothing bothers Eberflus with his defense more than a third-and-long conversion.
  • Treylon Burks drops a ball right to him. Now it's easy to see why they've lost confidence in him. Third-and-15.
  • The Titans burn a timeout on second-and-10 at their 27. First bad thing they've done in the last 10 minutes. Then they follow it up with a false start by rookie JC Latham.
  • The third-down deep ball to DeAndre Carter was overthrown by Williams incomplete but that was a play they ran a lot to Tyler Scott. He has sub-4.4 speed and Carter, though fast, is not at Scott's level for flat downfield speed. He might have been able to get that one if active.
  • After a first down on a throw to DJ Moore, the Bears quickly bog down with D'Andre Swift being tackled for a loss. They punt and Khari Blasingame holds while blocking for the punt and it gets the Titans out of a hole to their own 27. More mistakes on special teams. But at least it wasn't by Velus. They could have had Tyler Scott active instead of Velus.
  • DeAndre Carter back instead of Velus now
  • Darrell Taylor's first Bears sack on second down left the Titans looking for a screen on third-and-long but Levis threw it into the dirt when the Bears sniffed it out and Tennessee settles for a 40-yard Nick Folk field goal. Titans 10, Bears 0

First Quarter

  • Velus Jones Jr. muffs the kickoff and then kicks the ball forward to the Titans at the Bears 23. Another disaster courtesy of Velus. Usually kickoff returns are his strength. Quarter ends and the Bears are in big trouble. It's really hard to lose a muff on a kickoff with these new rules but Velus found a way to do it.
  • The Bears wasted a good opportunity and Tennessee took advantage. Now we'll see how Williams responds to adversity. Just 41 seconds left in the first quarter.
  • Pollard's 7-yard run behind strong blocking gets the Titans a first down at the 26. and then he breaks one all the way for the TD. Excellent blocking by Dillon Radunz pulling and opening a hole. An 8-play, 79-yard drive. Titans 7, Bears 0
  • Working the short passing game first for 6 to Calvin Ridley and then to Tyjae Spears and Titans are at the Bears 40. They had a run stacked up in the backfield but Kyler Gordon missed an open-field tackle. A poor attempt, like he didn't want to be physical.
  • An 8-yard pass on first down as Darrell Taylor nearly gets to Levis, and then the initial first down for Tennesee on a Pollard run to the 35. Titans are making noise.
  • A little more power running and some more mid-range passing looks like what the Bears offense needs now. They've been running outside and throwing deep.
  • Tory Taylor pins them at the 11 but a hold on new long snapper Scott Daly means the drive starts at the 21. The Bears have enjoyed good field position throughout the first 9 1/2 minutes but have nothing to show for it.
  • Amani Hooker with an excellent PBU on ball over the middle to Odunze, and then the tight end screen to Gerald Everett goes nowhere. So they'll need to punt. They had reached the 31 and easily were in field goal range. That's lesson No. 1 for Williams. Get rid of the ball.
  • After Williams looked so good getting the ball out on time, he reverts back to hero ball, nearly gets sacked, then does get sacked on the same play 19 yards back by Sebastian Joseph-Day. Took them out of field goal range.
  • Velus Jones with an early appearance ance tough inside running for 6 and a first down. He ran it like a back.
  • A 12-men-on-the-field penalty on Titans and a defensive hold. First down at the 31. DJ Moore was tackled coming off the line and again later.
  • Keenan Allen open for the TD but Williams overthrew him on the left sideline. They take a big risk on fourth-and-2 1/2 but a perfectly times pass to DJ Moore nets 5 for the first down. Better timing than they showed most of training camp on short throws.
  • Nice, physical wide zone play and Swift sort of tiptoed through for 6. Should have had 8 or 9 if he ran harder on it. Then the Titans stack up a similar play on a handoff instead of a toss and it's third-and-3.
  • A 20-yard punt return by DeAndre Carter sets the Bears up at the Titans 48. Nice blocking formed it to the right side but he couldn't stay in while tight-roping the sideline. It was a good punt, too, 49 yards.
  • Jaquan Briskers tackle for a 1-yard gain against Pollard run and then a false start back up the Titans. DeMarcus Walker with another big hit after a 1-yard gain and the Titans are pelted with noise as they face third-and-14 and throw underneath to settle for a punt. TJ Edwards with the tackle on the short pass. The defense is definitely up for the opener and wasn't fooled by anything unscouted on first two series.
  • The punt by Tory Taylor could have been downed inside the 5 as it hit but Josh Blackwell couldn't react fast enough to get it. So its Tennessee at their 20. Taylor's first Bears punt was an excellent one with good hang time. It didn't have backspin but didn't bounce too hard. They need more alert gunners.
  • A nice 6-yard run by D'Andre Swift is wasted as DJ Moore caught a ball at the line for only a yard and then Williams tried to pull his magic by going out of the pocket but no one is open so he throws short and incomplete, leading to a punt.
  • Incompletion as Will Levis led his receiver too much well short of a first down anyway and the Bears get it back at their 43 after a punt and DeAndre Carter return. The defense has its fast start.
  • Preesure from Montez Sweat forces a second down incompletion after Andrew Billings stuffed a first-down run by Tony Pollard and the Titans face third-and-9.
  • Titans start at their 22 after a strong coverage effort by the Bears
  • After all these days building up, it's time for the kickoff of the Caleb Williams era.
  • The Bears won the toss and defer.
  • Former Bears Otis Wilson and Matt Forte, Jimbo Covert, Mike Singletary and Richard Dent all coming out for the coin toss.
  • Introductions and Caleb Williams sets the place off.

Pregame

  • Over 100 Bears alums in the house today on a day they're honoring Steve McMichael.
  • Scott Daly, the new Bears long snapper for injured Patrick Scales, has jersey No. 46.
  • Temperature is 66 and 8 mph wind. Sunny and ideal for football.
  • The Bears could be making a mistake here by keeping both Tyler Scott and Roschon Johnson inactive and assuming Velus Jones Jr. can handle it at either running back or receiver should they need to dig into the bench. For one, Johnson is a good pass blocker and Jones hasn't even done this as a back. So apparently they'll rely on Travis Homer as an extra back in pass blocking situations. He hasn't done anything on offense since coming to the team last year. Scott runs better routes than Jones and is an actual receiver.
  • Steve McMichael montage on the big screen at Soldier Field today. Mongo is being honored for his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction today.
  • There should be no problems for Rome Odunze finding the end line and knowing where to put his feet in on a catch at the back of the end zone as they've colored in the area behind the end zone to make it clear. He had the TD catch against Cincinnati when his feet were out of bounds and didn't need to be, and the field was lined differently then in a confusing manner. Actually, it wasn't that confusing if he had noticed the pylon wasn't where he thought it should be. Seams in Soldier Field sod that were apparent in the only preseason home game are not as obvious t see as they were that day (Aug. 17).
  • No reports of any trouble for players on the way to the game, apparently unlike Tyreek Hill.
  • Jaylon Johnson's car seems too much like the one Tarik Cohen had when he arrived at training camp in 2019.
  • The only real issue for the Bears when they are coming up with inactives today is whether one of those defensive ends are inactive. It would seem likely as they have six of them. Smart money is on Daniel Hardy sitting because they always seem to favor Dominique Robinson even when he hasn't produced much. Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower likes Robinson's athleticism on coverage units. But Hardy can't be too much different.

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.