Week 1 matchups are always filled with unknowns for both teams playing against each other. but this weekend’s game between the Chicago Bears and the Tennessee Titans feels different to open the season.
On Sunday, both the Bears and the Titans will be kicking off a new era of football. The Bears will be debuting a new franchise quarterback in rookie Caleb Williams, while the Titans unveil an entirely new coaching staff and offensive philosophy. As for the Bears’ coaching staff, the team will be entering the third season under head coach Matt Eberflus with new assistants helping right the ship in Chicago.
No one really knows what to expect out of either offense with new play-callers coming to down in 2024, something Bears’ defensive coordinator Eric Washington admits will be a challenge on Sunday.
“We respect this opponent,” Washington said . “We realize that it’s a new staff but they have some outstanding offensive personnel that we’re going to have to do a great job to control, to defend, and to create an advantage against… You do your due diligence against the play-caller’s background. You also have to look at all of the members of the staff and what they would likely contribute and what their backgrounds and fingerprints have been in terms of what they’ve majored in at the places that they have coached…
“We’ll look as much as we need to, [but] some of this is projection. There is no guarantee this coach will Xerox what they did in Cincinnati and present that to us. [Brian Callahan will] have his own ID and spin on what he’s done, and our focus will continue to be on us. We have rules, we have a process that we feel like will line up and present itself to whoever we’re playing against.”