The Chicago Bears picked up a win in their season opener against the Tennessee Titans, but the highly-anticipated Bears offense was subpar for most of the game. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams struggled to get anything going, the run game was nonexistent, and they suffered injuries to wide receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze.
Both Allen and Odunze are currently listed as questionable for a Sunday Night Football clash with the Houston Texans in Week 2. As for Odunze, the rookie out of Washington talked about the severity of his sprained MCL on Friday, per Marquee Sports Network.
“As I started to move my leg, bend my leg a little bit, you start to get that confidence,” Odunze said. “I’ll continue to build that so I can hopefully play Sunday.”
If one of Odunze or Allen can give it a go on Sunday night, it would be a major boost for a Bears offense in desperate need of a big night. While Chicago’s pass catching room is talented, their lackluster depth would be tested outside of DJ Moore if Allen and Odunze cannot go. Journeyman wideout DeAndre Carter was the only player outside of those three to receive more than one target against the Titans.
How Bears can improve offensive production in Week 2
The Bears really struggled to get anything going offensively in Week 1, and all of their problems on that side of the ball started with the interior of the offensive line. The Tennessee front blew up the Chicago interior over and over again, stuffing the run and pushing the pocket back into Caleb Williams’ lap. Williams did a good job for the most part evading sacks — he took just two for 29 yards — but wasn’t able to come up with some of his magic outside of the pocket that he flashed in college.
There is good news for the Bears’ interior heading into this week. Tennessee’s defensive tackles are some of the best in the league, with superstar Jeffery Simmons wrecking games as usual and rookie T’Vondre Sweat putting together an excellent NFL debut. The Texans’ interior defensive line isn’t on that level, but they have a solid secondary and an elite edge duo with Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. that will still make it tough for Chicago up front.
The Bears can mitigate this weakness in a few ways. The first way is to move the pocket a bit and get Williams out on the perimeter, where he can find some easy completions and use his athleticism on the outside. They can also utilize the perimeter run game to minimize the effect of poor guard and center play, and maybe add in some of the option schemes that Williams excelled with in college.
Regardless, if Williams is going to have a successful game on Sunday night, the play up front is something that needs to be addressed.
