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The 2024 season was supposed to be the start of a new era for Chicago Bears football, but in an unexpected twist, Chicago's comeback win over the Tennessee Titans felt strangely familiar. With all of the hype of the offseason focused on 1st overall pick Caleb Williams and a totally revamped offense, it was the Bears defense and special teams that saved the day.
Typical Monster's of the Midway to secure a 24-17 win without an offensive touchdown.
After finding themselves in a 17-0 hole, it was 66-yard kickoff return from DeAndre Carter that set the Bears up for a field goal before the 1st half ended. With the offense struggling to find its footing, it was Mr. Simone Biles (Jonathan Owens) and Tyrique Stevenson who scored the only two Bears touchdowns of the game, off of a blocked punt and an interception return respectively.
The Bears are 1-0, and ultimately, that's all that matters. But ahead of their Sunday Night Football clash with the Houston Texans next weekend, there's still a whole lot to be concerned about in the Windy City.
Bears offense makes the wrong sort of history
The days when the Bears offense was booed off the field were supposed to be in the past, but that's exactly what happened as Chicago retreated to the locker room at half. It's not just that Caleb Williams and the Bears offense couldn't put any points on the board. The bigger issue is that for most of the game, they couldn't really move the ball at all.
In fact, Chicago finished the game with only 149 yards of total offense, which is a lower total than they've had in either of the last two seasons under head coach Matt Eberflus. It's the first time the Bears have won a game with under 150 yards of total offense since 2006.
Before today, Dec. 3, 2006, was the last time the Chicago Bears won a football game with less than 150 total yards. And the headline still works today. pic.twitter.com/yZLPgj9Pe6
— Chris Murphy (@SeeMurphsTweets) September 8, 2024
As easy as it would be to enter panic mode based on how shaky Caleb Williams looked, it's unlikely that this will be the norm as he gets more and more reps.
(Right?)
Keenan Allen leaves game early with injury
Heading into Sunday's game, newly acquired wide receiver Keenan Allen was listed as questionable due to a nagging heel injury, but the 11-year vet gave it a go and got plenty of run early on. Allen got a game-high 11 targets for the Bears, hauling in just four receptions for 29 yards. But on a deep ball attempt early in the 4th quarter, Allen came up gimpy and didn't return for the rest of the afternoon.
Assuming Keenan Allen is forced to miss some time, that means that rookie wideout Rome Odunze will be thrown into the lions den early. Odunze was only targeted four times against the Titans, and had just one reception for 11 yards in his first career game.
Bears run defense looks suspect
It would be easy to look at Chicago's defensive performance against Tennessee and make the assumption that as has been the case so often in this franchise's history, this is the one area of the team that fans shouldn't be concerned about. After all, two non-offensive touchdowns, three sacks and only 127 passing yards allowed paint a picture of a dominant defensive effort.
But it does seem problematic the Titans, who moved on from All-Pro running back Derrick Henry in the offseason, rushed for 140 yards on over five yards per carry against a Bears defense that came into the season with the expectation of being stout against the run.
On their first scoring drive of the game, the Titans marched down the field and capped things off with a 26-yard Tony Pollard touchdown run. Will Levis also hurt the Bears on the ground, scrambling for 36 yards on four attempts.
