One of the real advantages the Bears appeared to own heading into Sunday's opener was their defensive front against the Tennessee Titans offensive line.
It's a Titans offensive line trying to correct plenty of problems from last year and one still with question marks. It's one of the few matchups the Bears have where their overall defensive line besides Montez Sweat would not be considered at a huge disadvantage.
Friday's announcement by the Titans that DeAndre Hopkins was questionable means it's possible he'll play after being plagued much of training camp and preseason with a knee injury. Even with a rebuilt receiver corps, the Titans face a difficult task trying to measure up against the Bears secondary.
Here are the Bears who are in position to do the most damage to Tennessee in the season opener.
RB D'Andre Swift
The defensive front for the Titans has Jeffery Simmons and Sebastian Joseph-Day but one of the Tennessee weaknesses is going to be covering in the middle of the field with their linebackers. They were still scrambling around last week to fill one starting linebacker spot with a trade for linebacker Ernest Jones.
Swift could be a real threat as a receiver against a pass defense that will be severely thinned out by trying to cover man-to-man against a group of talented Bears wide receivers and tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett. It could leave one of the better pass-catching running backs the middle of the field wide open to exploit.
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RB Roschon Johnson
A very quiet training camp for Johnson because of a toe injury is completed and now he's off the injury list. The Titans' defensive scheme will lean to the blitz, especially against a rookie passer. Johnson is the best of the three Bears backs picking this up and delivering punishing blocks. In the running game, he can also be useful because his style is direct and powerful. The way to attack the 3-man front is with a more direct approach than taking it wide.
WR DJ Moore
Back during training camp, QB Tyson Bagent made the comment that the Bears would never face man-to-man coverage this year because of all the receiver weapons they now have. And here they are in Week 1 but who will they face? If the Titans truly are playing it like the Baltimore Ravens because defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson comes from their scheme, then Moore will get the chance to go one on one. He shredded Washington last year when allowed to play one on one early in that game. One thing Shane Waldron's offensive scheme did much better in Seattle than the Bears have done is produce yards after the catch. Moore should benefit from this, as the best Bears yards-after-catch receiver.
TE Cole Kmet
Going after Tennessee's weaker linebacker corps is the best way to exploit their new defensive scheme. Who better for this in the short passing game than Kmet? If the Bears are in 12-personnel with tight end Gerald Everett on the field, he'd likely draw safety coverage. Kmet can get one on one athen with a linebacker. The formidable Titans cornerbacks and safeties will be trying to cover a lot of weapons when they are facing Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze and Swift. Kmet might find he has more running room as a result.
DE Montez Sweat
Sweat and the Bears talked about how he'll benefit by moving around this week up front, but he should be able to dominate even without moving because Titans right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere, who had his 2023 season cut short by a gambling suspension and injury but struggled when he did play, according to Pro Football Focus grades. And as a rookie in 2022 he was fairly non-descript. Sweat has a toe injury but has been given Matt Eberflus' personal clean bill of health and should be able to exploit a weakness of blocking on the edge the Titans would seem to have. If the Bears move Sweat to the other side he'll be facing rookie JC Latham, the seventh pick in this year's draft. Latham has a good size advantage at 6-6, 342, but obviously hasn't played yet in an NFL game. Expect Sweat to rely on his long-arm tactic and get after Will Levis. The Titan allowed 64 sacks last year and have to prove they're beyond that.
LB Tremaine Edmunds
As last season went on, it became more apparent Edmunds could be extremely effective in this Bears scheme with just more time in it. He picked it up after missing too much time in the offseason and training camp. What Edmunds became particularly adept at was getting passes tipped off a receiver's hand or at the line of scrimmage. The reason he can be more effective in zone coverage in this game is he's going against a quarterback who definitely was not one of the more precise throwers in the league. Will Levis completed only 58.4% and in today's NFL that needs to be up about 5% or 6%. And if he's not right on the money, anything floating around can end up with the middle linebacker. They did get Levis a few new receivers to aid him but the kind of improvement the Titans need requires time on task and this is Week 1.
DT Andrew Billings
Get ready for disruption courtesy of the Bears' line disruptor. Billings not only uses his strength as the nose tackle to plug the middle, but all through camp he was constantly trying to cause plays to break down before they start by barking out false signals to a new center and new QB. The Titans have a QB with only nine games experience and a new center in Lloyd Cushenberry III. Billings will usually be going against either Cushenberry or Dillon Radunz, unless the strong side is flipped. Billings also has been getting some training this year in playing 3-technique, so expect the Bears to spring that surprise at some point. He was their most consistent defensive tackle last year and doesn't finish with sacks but does apply interior pressure.
