Cornerback Jaylon Johnson said earlier this week he and the team couldn’t buy into the hype surrounding the Chicago Bears before their Week 1 contest against the Tennessee Titans. Johnson wanted to prove how good the Bears were on the field.
The Bears 24-17 win over the Titans won’t quiet the doubters.
The Bears defense tried to set the tone early with two three-and-out stops. Numerous offensive miscues by Caleb Williams and Co., and a Velus Jones Jr. fumble on a kickoff return hurt the Bears’ momentum, and the defense folded in the first half.
However, special teams and the defense saved the day in the second half. A punt block return for a touchdown by Jonathan Owens and a Tryique Steven pick 6 overcame an offensive day that saw Caleb Williams finish 14-29 passing for 93 yards in the win.
Here are three studs and three duds from the Bears win over the Titans.
Chicago Bears studs
DeAndre Carter
Carter was the best player for the Bears on the field Sunday. He flipped field position multiple times in the first half. He returned his first punt for 16 yards and second punt for 20 yards. He returned a kickoff for 66 yards.
Unfortunately, the Bears’ offense could only put up three points off of the returns that set the Bears up with field position at the Chicago 43-yard line, Tennessee 48-yard line, and Tennessee 34-yard line.
Special teams
Other than Jones’ fumble, the special teams was the reason the Bears defeated the Titans. A Carter’s returns and a blocked punt return set the offense up with ten points. The Bears could have had more points if the offensive line and Williams hadn’t made critical mistakes.
Tory Taylor did a lot of punting on Sunday. He punted six times for 271 yards, and placed three punts inside the 20-yard line. One punt went into the endzone for a touchback.
Cairo Santos reportedly had poor moments in training camp. He hit all three of his field goals against the Titans. He hit a long of 50 yards.
Darrell Taylor
The Bears traded a sixth-round pick the Seattle Seahawks of Taylor after training camp. The former second-round pick was a difference maker against the Titans. He recorded two sacks and forced a Will Levis’ fumble that Montez Sweat recovered. He finished with the third most tackles (8) on the day.
Bears duds
Velus Jones Jr.
Jones has been one of the better kick returners in the league the previous two years–when he can handle the ball. Jones has a knack for being a klutz, and he fumbled a kickoff return in the first half that led to a Titans field goal.
The Bears promptly removed Jones from kickoff return duty and used Carter and Khalil Herbert for the remainder of the game. The Bears have bent over backwards to keep him on the 53-man roster. The Bears’ patience might have run out for the 2022 third-round pick after Sunday’s muff.
Offensive line
The Bears’ offensive line didn’t give Williams much of a chance against the Titans. Williams was constantly under duress in the pocket. The offensive line was dominated by the Titans’ front seven in the run game. The Bears finished with 88 yards rushing. They gave up two sacks.
Matt Eberflus
Eberflus did not have the Bears prepared to start play against the Titans in Week 1. Eberflus will face criticism for not allowing Williams to play more in the preseason.
Williams made silly rookie mistakes, like a 19-yard yard sack that took the Bears out of field goal range. Those mistakes could have been avoided if Williams was allowed to see more pass rushes from live defenses in August.
Eberflus’ defense played well on the first two drives. However, Callahan’s offensive adjustments worked, and the Bears were carved up by running back Tony Pollard and quarterback Will Levis until the third quarter.
Fortunately, Eberflus defense adjust well at halftime and stifled Levis and the Titans’ offense in the second half. Levis’ three turnovers in the second half assured the Bears a 1-0 start to the season. Tyrique Stevenson gave up a touchdown in the first half but gave the Bears the lead in the fourth quarter with a pick 6.
The Bears still have significant problems to fix in the early season, especially on offense. The Bears were lucky to notch a win against a bad Titans team. The Bears can’t rely on wins to come from an offensive unit that put up 64 yards in the passing game and 84 in the running game.
Eberflus is now 11-24 in three seasons in Chicago. The Bears don’t have any easy breaks coming in the schedule soon. They’ll travel to Houston to play C.J. Stroud and the Texans next week. They’ll play the Indianapolis Colts in Week 3.
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