Keys to the Game: 3 things that will help Bears beat Titans (2024)

The Bears open the season by hosting the Tennessee Titans Sunday at Soldier Field. Here are three things that should increase their chances of winning the game:

(1) Have Caleb Williams play like a point guard, quickly distributing the ball to the Bears' skill-position players.

Since the No. 1 overall draft pick first stepped on the practice field, the Bears have encouraged him to lean on his teammates. Williams is fortunate to be surrounded by a talented supporting cast of impact players that includes receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze; tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett; and running backs D'Andre Swift and Khalil Herbert.

"We all know what [Williams] can do in terms of his arm talent in terms of throwing on the move and those types of things," coach Matt Eberflus said last week. "But in the early parts of the game and early downs, he's just asked to play point guard, have a great operation, get the ball to our skill, either by handing it off or throwing it to them and letting them do the running and moving around and gaining the yards."

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In training camp and the preseason, Williams demonstrated the ability to both execute scripted plays and make accurate off-schedule throws on the run, just as he did when he won the Heisman Trophy at USC. The 22-year-old will be encouraged to get rid of the ball quickly Sunday to avoid negative plays that stall drives.

The Titans defense features tackle Jeffrey Simmons, outside linebacker Harold Landry III, cornerback L'Jarius Sneed and safeties Quandre Diggs and Amani Hooker. Tennessee runs a 3-4 scheme that's similar to the Bengals' system that Williams faced Aug. 17 in a preseason game at Soldier Field.

Preparing for Sunday's opener has been challenging for the Bears offense given that Titans first-year defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson will be working his first NFL game as a coordinator. A Bears pro scout from 2008-11, Wilson served as a defensive backs coach with the Rams (2015-16), Jets (2017-18), Eagles (2021-22) and Ravens (2023) before joining first-year Titans coach Brian Callahan's staff.

(2) Pressure second-year quarterback Will Levis.

The Bears registered a couple sacks with nickel blitzes in the preseason, but Eberflus has traditionally preferred to generate pressure from the front four and drop seven defenders into coverage. Regardless of how they do it Sunday, pressuring Levis will be paramount to success. As a rookie last year, the Titans' second-round pick from Kentucky went 3-6 as a starter, completing 58.4% of his passes for 1,808 yards with eight touchdowns, four interceptions and an 84.2 passer rating.

"Strong arm, tremendous athlete," said Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington. "We can't afford to have him extend plays. We just can't afford to [not] do a great job as far as our coverage is concerned and allow him to extend plays with his athleticism. We have to do a good job of making sure he has one option, he's a one-look quarterback, and he has to get rid of the ball on time."

The Bears pass rush is led by end Montez Sweat, who recorded a team-leading 6.0 sacks last year after being acquired in a midseason trade with the Commanders.

Top Titans receiver DeAndre Hopkins hopes to play Sunday despite suffering from a torn MCL that has limited him in practice. Last season Hopkins led Tennessee with 75 receptions for 1,057 yards and seven TDs. He had previously topped 1,000 yards five times with the Texans and once with the Cardinals.

"This is a person that everywhere that he's been, he's impacted games to the detriment of the defense," Washington said. "We have to make sure that we understand what he brings to the table, and we have to do a good job of making sure that we stay in front of him."

During the offseason, the Titans bolstered their receiving corps by acquiring Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd. They lost superstar running back Derrick Henry to the Ravens but replaced him with speedsters Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears.

(3) Play complementary football.

The Bears are at their best when the defense generates a takeaway and the offense converts it into points, often taking advantage of a short field. It's a recipe for success they hope to follow Sunday.

"Our goal is to play great complementary football," said offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. "We've talked about one of the key components to that is not turning the ball over, taking care of the football and ending each drive with a kick. Our goal is to end each and every drive on offense with an extra point. But if that's not the case right there, a field goal or a potential punt is also a positive situation for us because we have a great special teams unit, we have a great defense right there. So working together with all three phases to go through a game I think is important, something we'll talk about every single week."

Last season the Bears committed 22 turnovers in their 10 losses and only three in their seven wins. Through their first 11 games, they were 3-0 with no giveaways and 0-8 when they had at least one.

Defensively, Washington is "very confident" that the Bears will continue to produce interceptions at the same rate as last year when they tied the 49ers for the NFL lead with 22.

"[In] the preseason, we were able to get our hands on the ball and we scored a couple of times," Washington said. "I think that speaks to the mentality that we have as a defense. We've got tremendous personnel but also we have tremendous professionals that understand exactly how to put yourself in position, via the call and the situation, to make plays like the ones that we've made and like we saw in the preseason."