Bears and Titans, Where to Watch, Betting Odds

The Bears and Titans play in the preseason finale in Nashville, a game that will mostly for the backups and especially for Bears quarterback Justin Fields.

Kickoff:  6 p.m. Saturday, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tenn.

The setting: It's QB Justin Fields' first start as the Chicago Bears (1-1) and Tennessee Titans (2-0) close the preseason. Fields is expected to play the first half, followed by Nick Foles. Fields goes to backup duties starting with the opener Sept. 12 against the Rams. The Titans won't have quarterback Ryan Tannehill and coach Mike Vrabel due to COVID-19 and eight of their players were still on the reserve/COVID list as of Friday. The Titans will start former Bears QB Matt Barkley at QB. After going 9-7 in his Vrabel's first two years as coach, the Titans were 11-5 last year. The Bears are coming off their second playoff berth in three seasons under coach Matt Nagy.

TV, Radio: NFL Network, Fox-32 in Chicago area (Adam Amin, Jim Miller, Lou Canellis). WBBM-AM 780, 105.9-FM (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote). TUDN Deportes Radio AM 1200, FM 93.5.

The line: Bears favored by 2 1/2, over/under 36 1/2.

Key changes since 2020:  The Bears brought in starting quarterback Andy Dalton and drafted Fields after trading up in Round 1. The bulk of their remaining acquisitions revolved around fortifying depth as they were hurt in several areas last year by a bench that had become too thin. LB acquisition Alec Ogletree has been pressing starter Danny Trevathan for playing time. ... The Titans sought to fortify their struggling defense in the offseason and signed Steelers free agent outside pass rusher Bud Dupree, although he is unlikely to play in this game. They also signed former Colts pass rusher Denico Autry and cornerback Janoris Jenkins. On offense, they acquired wide receiver Julio Jones from the Falcons. They also signed former Rams receiver Josh Reynolds. Their impressive tight end group has been broken up with the loss of Jonnu Smith.  In the draft, two key players they brought in to help the defense were cornerback Elijah Molden and cornerback Caleb Farley.

Missing men:  Almost none of the starters for either team will play, although either all or most of the starting Bears offensive line will see at least one or two series. The Titans would have held out everyone anyway, but a COVID-19 outbreak hit the team this week and even some of their second-team players won't be in this game. Essentially, it will be Fields and his line against mostly players who might be cut next week for the Titans. After Barkley, it's possible QB Logan Woodside will play. Both were sharp last week and were over 80% completions in a win over Tampa Bay.

Matching up: The Bears in 2020 were 26th on offense, 22nd in passing and 25th in rushing. They were 11th on defense, 12th against the pass and 15th against the run.

The Titans were second on offense, 23rd at passing and second in rushing. They were 28th on defense, 19th at stopping the run and 29th against the pass.

Preseason: The Bears last week lost to Buffalo 41-15 and in Week 1 beat Miami 20-13. The Titans beat Atlanta in Week 1 23-3 and last week beat Tampa Bay 34-3.

Last Matchup: The Titans beat the Bears in Nashville 24-17 on Nov. 8.

Scouting report: The Bears are still working on getting passes downfield more and last week finally did it with a 73-yarder to Rodney Adams from Andy Dalton. In games, they haven't shown the Damiere Byrd, Allen Robinson, Darnell Mooney or Marquise Goodwin connections. The defensive secondary battles (Kindle Vildor and Desmond Trufant at left cornerback and Duke Shelley and Thomas Graham Jr. at slot cornerback) are winding down. Vildor and Shelley appear to have emerged winners.

Tennessee has a new defensive coordinator, same as the old defensive coordinator in Shane Bowen. He was actually the acting defensive coordinator last year, operating a base 3-4 with an emphasis on man-to-man coverage, somewhat like New England.  He just didn't have the title. Their offense uses power-I base with Derrick Henry and a fullback as the major factors in their ball-control style. The revamped receiver corps is anything but a group of burners but they are excellent route runners and much better at avoiding drops than last year's group.

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