Bear Digest

Three Keys for a Bears Opening Victory Over Tennessee Titans

Analysis: It's all new for the Bears on offense with Caleb Williams but some of the same old problems of the past must be overcome to open Sunday with a win.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams tries to get away from the Cincinnati pass rush. Handling adversity is going to be a key for the rookie QB.
Caleb Williams tries to get away from the Cincinnati pass rush. Handling adversity is going to be a key for the rookie QB. / David Banks-Imagn Images
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In the NFL, there are unscouted looks from teams with new coaching staffs or with totally revamped rosters after rebuilds, of course.

The truth be told, every season is an unscouted look for every team.

Sure, they have film of past games but even teams with rosters largely intact change greatly in how they do things, in the people who do it, and in who orders it up from the sidelines, so that very little is the same from one season to the next in the NFL. They spend all offseason finding ways to make it look different than in the past.

The Bears kick off this season looking with great anticipation at starting a fresh, new era behind quarterback Caleb Williams even in the third year of their "rebuild."

It's the same head coach, but so much has changed on offense with a new coordinator and offensive coaching staff but even more so with their young QB and with new pass targets like Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze and Gerald Everett.

"I'm excited for the guys, for the competition together," coach Matt Eberflus said I’m excited about our new coaching staff coaching together in a real game. How we make the adjustments in game, how we do in game in terms of that. Focusing on the next play and how we respond to success and to adversity during those three hours and seven minutes of play. Just excitement."

And what happens if it goes past three hours and seven minutes?

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They have to be ready for that, too.

They need to be ready for anything.

Here are the three keys to a victory over the Tennessee Titans. If they handle these, they'll be ready for everything in this matchup and maybe for the rest of this season.

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1. Respond to Adversity

If anything has is certain, bad things will happen in the game with Williams as QB. He's a rookie. Bad things happen to veterans. They did Friday to Jalen Hurts and yet there he was at the end conducting a game-sealing drive. Williams will respond poorly to some of the things he hasn't seen before and make mistakes. He and the team, in general, must be ready to answer back when things happen that are not part of the plan.

So often in the past, the Bears make their move, something bad happened, and they never respond. It was part of the stamp Justin Fields left on the team. He wasn't always able to respond to adversity, particularly at the end of games. It's proven by the fact he had one of the worst fourth-quarter passer ratings in the NFL over the course of his career.

Now it's on Williams to produce when it matters, to overcome tough situations and answer back -- and do it sometimes even at the end of games.

"It's going to be a good test for us," Eberflus said. "A new offense a new quarterback, those things. We are looking for clean operation, looking for good flow in and out of the huddle, looking for handling adversity when adversity does happen. How we respond to that really as a whole football team, not just on the offense."

2. Wading in on Defense

There is great anticipation for a defense claiming to be top five in the NFL. They very well could be this good, and players and Eberflus have been making noise about being able to gamble more because they know the scheme so well now. However, coming into a season opener they need to play it safer. Gambling against a team so unscouted as this one with new coaches and numerous new players only makes big plays easier for them. Zone, disguised zones, less blizing and a four-man rush led by Montez Sweat are the ways to go, but they need to execute because being forced to gamble because their approach was in effective is the worst way to play defense.  The Titans would love to see Will Levis attacking and the Bears on their heels.

3. Keep a Thumb on Hero Ball

It's been talked about since Williams was drafted. He plays hero ball. He'll hang onto it too long by moving out of the pocket and then trying to hit big plays on the run downfield. In preseason and in college, he got away with it. Regular season NFL football is played at an incredibly elevated speed from those other levels of ball he has seen. Hero ball won't work on a regular basis. Lesser increments of it are needed. The ball needs to come out in time more. The coaches need to keep close watch on how much he is doing it. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is supposedly a "great communicator." He needs to communicate to Williams about getting the ball out and keep communicating this because Tennessee defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons was kidding when he said he planned to knock the paint off of Williams' fingernails but he wasn't kidding that he'd like to try to do it. Simmons and Harold Landry, who had 22 1/2 sacks for the last two seasons he was able to play, will be coming for that nail paint.

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.