If the Chicago Bears can reach the kind of success they are aiming for this season, they will be able to look back on a 24-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans and chalk it up to a number of factors, most prominently an improved roster.
The defense had 10 hits on quarterback Will Levis, the second-most by the Bears since Week 15 of the 2020 season, and a total they didn’t reach a year ago until Week 4. Newcomer Darrell Taylor had two sacks, including a turnover, and special teams dominated.
Daniel Hardy blocked a punt for a scoop-and-score and DeAndre Carter had a 67-yard kickoff return — 30 yards more than the longest return from a year ago. Carter also added a 20-yard punt return and the Bears had only one punt return of more than 15 yards (31 actually) in 2023.
Against a rebuilding opponent with a second-year quarterback and a new coach, it was evidence the Bears have more pieces in place and a deeper roster than they’ve worked with the last several seasons.
When the defense shows up and special teams can be a difference-maker, teams can still chart a course to victory even when the offense has an off day, a generous way to describe the 148-yard effort that lacked cohesion, rhythm and a single touchdown drive.
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams missed a handful of throws he should make but didn’t turn the ball over. What was confusing was the Bears didn’t seem to have a clear offensive identity.
It was a mishmash of personnel groupings (26 total) and formations with a blend of some cute plays. None of it proved sustainable until the fourth quarter when they had a 44-yard drive for a field goal and successfully moved out from the shadow of their own goal line before punting.
As obtuse as it was after the opener last season when wide receiver DJ Moore had only two targets in a 38-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers, it was more jarring to see tight end Cole Kmet play only 27 of the 56 snaps (48%).
Week 1 photos: Chicago Bears 24, Tennessee Titans 17 at Soldier Field
That’s because coverage, pass protection and a whole host of other factors could be possible explanations for Moore rarely seeing the ball. The Bears had total control over how much Kmet, signed to a $50 million, four-year extension 14 months ago, played and he wound up getting seven fewer snaps than fellow tight end Gerald Everett, a newcomer.
That remained a question on Wednesday. Why didn’t offensive coordinator Shane Waldron play Kmet more?
“Situationally, we had 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers) when he was in and then when G was in,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “So, it was the way the rotation happened. Certainly do we want to get Cole involved in the plan more in terms of catches and point-of-attack blocking and all those things? Yes, yes we do. But we’re looking for our formula for success on offense, and again, that’s going to take a little bit of time in terms of distributing the ball to the skill more evenly, and we’re working to do that this week.”
Not surprisingly, Kmet took the team-first route as Moore did a year ago after his puzzling debut.
“It is what it is,” Kmet said. “I don’t know what else to say. It wasn’t a great showing offensively. We got a new quarterback, a new offensive system … and we’re trying to put things together here. We’ve got a lot of new guys in. We’re figuring it out for sure. We’ll see where it goes this week.
“(Deciding playing time) is not my lane. So, I don’t dictate who goes out there and who doesn’t. I can only control what I do when I’m out there. I’m a guy, I want to play. I want to be out there and I’ve shown that over the past couple seasons, high snap-count percentages. I think I have shown I am capable of handling that as well. I understand taking a little bit of a load off to maintain health throughout the season. But like I said, I want to be a guy who is out there and doing things for the teams.”
Simply playing Kmet isn’t a solution to all that was off. It’s just an example of something that looked askew for an offense that, again, lacked any sort of identity. The Bears were 2-for-13 on third down and seven of those opportunities were third-and-5 or less. Twice on third-and-3 and once on third-and-4, Williams missed a target deep downfield. An occasional shot play on third-and-short makes sense and is a chance to catch the defense looking underneath. It didn’t work.
The running game wasn’t particularly effective. Subtract two kneeldowns by Williams at the end of the game and the Bears had 86 yards on 20 rushes. Not bad. But consider D’Andre Swift (10 carries, 30 yards) had a 20-yard run in the fourth quarter shortly after Moore gained 14 on an end-around. It all counts but the offense had 47 yards rushing through its first eight possessions. Swift, Velus Jones Jr. and Khalil Herbert combined for 55 yards on 16 rushes.
“You can decipher stats and move those things, as you know, how you want them,” Eberflus said. “We really feel like we are solid there. I know we had some negative runs. But the number’s the number. That’s the way I live. I thought the efficiency was solid. Certainly, we’ve had better efficiency in the past and we’re looking forward to getting that this week.”
Struggle running the ball on a day the rookie quarterback passes for only 93 yards and there’s a lot to clean up as the Bears prepare to play at Houston on Sunday night.
“I can’t imagine what it would feel like if we didn’t pull off the win,” Kmet said. “Especially offensively there. That was not good. Anyone trying to say it was good, it was not good. We’ve all got to be better and there are definitely a lot of corrections that we’ve got to make this week against a playoff-worthy opponent.”
