Matchup to watch: Chicago Bears receivers vs. Tennessee Titans secondary
LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The Chicago Bears had to piece their preparation together as the Tennessee Titans come to town on Sunday.
Tennessee is under first-year coach Brian Callahan. With his arrival in Nashville, Callahan hired Dennard Wilson as his defensive coordinator.
Wilson was a sought-after defensive coordinator candidate this offseason after impressing as a secondary coach with the Baltimore Ravens. He brings a different wrinkle to Sunday's season-opener at Soldier Field.
Here's this weekend's matchup to watch: The Bears wide receiver room against the Titans secondary unit.
What to know about the Tennessee Titans' secondary
The most outstanding part of the Titans defensive backfield comes with the name brand.
"They have players," Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said Wednesday.
During the offseason, the Titans added cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and L'Jarius Sneed via free agency and a trade with Kansas City, respectively. The team also added safety Quandre Diggs from Seattle.
Not to mention there's the veteran presence that Jamal Adams and Amani Hooker both bring.
Wilson oversees a group that came together this offseason. Tennessee needed an overhaul at defensive back, and really took that to heart.
Sneed, fresh off winning his second Super Bowl in a row, was traded to the Titans and provides top-tier talent as a defensive back that can cover an offense's No. 1 receiver. Awuzie is a luxury at the No. 2 corner, having 25 pass break-ups in three seasons in Cincinnati before signing with Tennessee.
These players catch the eye of the Bears' offensive skill players as they prepare for Sunday.
"They got a good secondary," Bears' tight end Cole Kmet said. "They got physical guys, so it'll be a good test for us."
How does the Bears' receiver room match up
Keenan Allen might not be used to what the Bears' receiver room has – especially after being the No. 1 option in Los Angeles for so many years – but that doesn't mean the balance of it all is a bad thing.
"I kind of love it," Allen said.
Allen, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Tyler Scott, Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett make up the receiving corps that will help Williams in his first NFL regular season game.
Against the Titans' secondary, the Bears' receivers have a fun first test coming up.
The talent in both rooms is known, but both are a part of new-look skill rooms that were team needs in the offseason and addressed healthily.
In trading for Allen and drafting Odunze, the Bears arguably have the best receiver room in franchise history. In signing Awuzie and trading for Sneed, the Titans have a secondary group that should be able to give opposing receivers headaches.
CANTON, OHIO - AUGUST 01: Keenan Allen #13 of the Chicago Bears talks with DJ Moore #2 and Rome Odunze #15 prior to the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the Houston Texans at Tom Benson Hall Of Fame Stadium on August 01, 2024 in Canton, Oh
Much of it comes down to Williams in his first NFL game. How he'll be able to see the field and make the throws needed to move the chains is paramount, but the receiver room has to make sure they are on the same page with Williams.
They might have only been in the same room for a short amount of time, but Allen attested to sticking to their own process and the process the staff has in place, adjusting when necessary, is what helps keep the receiver room healthy and at a playing speed that can be productive against any secondary.
"It's keeping the main thing, the main thing," Allen said. "Not changing anything, sticking to the script, adjusting the process."
The X-factor
The Titans' secondary has not been together for very long, however.
On the flip side, neither has the Bears' receiver room.
Both have vested veterans and both are talented, but it comes down to how the Bears' can adjust.
Kmet said the Bears have been watching some tape of how Wilson ran the secondary in Baltimore to get a feel for how his secondary operated there. The Bears are also watching individual players, like Sneed and Awuzie, to see what their tendencies are.
"We're not hunting ghosts of things that they may run, may not run," Williams said Tuesday. "We're going off of kind of what we've seen, some of the base things that we do know."
But, the X-factor in this match up will come down to which team can adjust better.
There's not much film the Bears can use to study on Tennessee. There's also not much film the Titans can use on the Bears' receivers.
Between Wilson and Bears' offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, whoever can adjust their game plan more quickly will have the upper hand.
"Trust your coaching that we've had throughout the offseason," Kmet said. "We got a good plan in place coming up here and we just got to trust that and whatever they give us that we got to be able to react to it."