Chicago is a diverse and vibrant city known for many things, including its historically hard-nosed football team, the Chicago Bears. The team is known for its bone-crushing defenses in frigid temperatures, and the city wea𝓀rs the Bears as a badge of honor. Simply put, t🌠his is a Bears town.
Nothing invigorates sports fans in Chicago like a good Bears team. There have b🍸een a few of them in my lifetime and even more in some of yours. So, you can und📖erstand why the town is buzzing right now, a mere 48 hours removed from the start of what many hope will be the next great chapter in Chicago Bears history.
The Chicago Bears have always given their fans a reason to come together on Sundays, even if it’s to vent about what they’re not doing right over a cold beverage.
On Sunday, Caleb Williams will provide Chicago 🦩fans with something else: Hope.
Since arriving in April, Williams has taken the city by storm. After four-plus months of waiting and wondering, Williams will make the most-anticipated Bears debut in my lifetime. It’s no small task. The amount of hope we’ve collectively hinged on the rookie quarterback is almost unfair. But fair or not, Caleb Williams is ready for it.
“When the feet touch the grass,” Williams said earlier in the week. “it’s going to be business as usual.”
It’s hard to doubt Williams when he’s found the highest levels of success at every stop en route to Chicago. Since he’s been here, he’s checked every box. You might not care to make much of training camp and preseason games, but Bears wide receiver DJ Moore was impressed.
“He went out there and exceeded everything that we had set for him,” Moore said of his QB.
There’s been plenty of discussion regarding reasonable expectations for Williams in year one. You can set your own bar, but if there’s one thing I’m confident Williams will do this season, it’s rise to the occasion.
Williams wasn’t handed the keys to the car on day one just because he was the No. 1 pick. He was given them because his maturity and readiness blew away the Bears. The most consistent review of Williams by everyone at Halas Hall this summer has been that he’s that guy. He’s smart. He’s poised. He’s unflappable. He’s ready.
How many yards and touchdowns all of those intangibles might translate to in year one isn’t a science, but they’re enough to make me feel like this time will be different. That’s the hope that Williams fills us with—new, different, finally.
Finally, it seems as though fans will be able to be proud to wear that No. 18 to th🌸eir Sunday gathering.
It’s not just us, though. The players feel it, too.
“I wou🔯ldn’t rather be wi🧜th another guy right now than Caleb,” veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen said during his press conference this week. “He’s gotten better ever since we started. The confidence is through the roof.”
Williams will get his first test this weekend when he goes up against a vastly improved Tennessee Titans secondary that features L’Jarius Sneed, Chidobe Awuzie, and Roger McCreary. He’s also going up against a defensive coordinator whose secondaries have been among the best in the league at intercepting the quarterback the previous two seasons, Dennard Wilson.
Wilson served as the defensive backs coach for the Ravens and Eagles the previous two seasons. Baltimore’s defense ranked sixth in the NFL in passing defense, allowing 192 yards per contest, first in points allowed, with 16.5 points per game, and third in interceptions, with 18 in 2023. Philadelphia’s ranked first in passing defense (179.8) and fourth in interceptions (17) in 2022 under Wilson’s watch. Philadelphia went to the Super Bowl that season, and Baltimore came a touchdown short last season.
It’ll be a tall task for Williams. Fortunately, Caleb Williams’ best attribute seems to be that no task is too tall for him.
Game Info
Chicago Bears (2023: 7-10) vs Tennessee Titans (2023: 6-11)
TV: FOX (Adam Amin, Mark Sanchez, Kristina Pink)
Streaming: *, ChicagoBears.com, Chicago Bears App
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer)
Kickoff Time: Noon CT
Site: Soldier Field; Chicago, IL
Referee: Shawn Smith
Odds: Bears -3.5, O/U 45 (via BetMGM)
Bears Projected Starters
Offense
Defense
Specialists
MORE: Chicago Bears Friday Injury Report
Titans Projected Starters
Offense
Defense
Specialists
EYE ON THE ENEMY: DeAndre Hopkins Will Tr🔜y to Play Th🥃rough a Torn MCL
Three Bears
Every week, our Chicago Bears writers will give you their Bears player to watch in the matchup ahead. Three Bears is a staple of these previews, and with Bears coverage expanding this season, I thought it would be cool to involve all of the Bears thinkers in the exercise.
Matt Rooney: Matt Eberflus — Sure, this one is a bit unconventional, but outside of Caleb Williams, it’s the head coach of the Bears who has the most weight on their shoulders. Last year didn’t end well. Now, the Bears have all the momentum in the world; they have their quarterback, their new OC, and a defense with a very high ceiling. Now, it’s up to the captain to guide the ship. The Bears must look different and come out with a swagger that we haven’t seen for some time, which falls on the head coach.
Luis Medina: Tremaine Edmunds — Things didn’t start well for The Edmunds Era in Chicago, but it’s not as if he was the only Bears player who stumbled out of the gates in 2023. But like many of his ♓cohorts, Edmunds ended the season on a high note. There is a sense of stability for Edmunds entering Year 2 with the Bears. Hopefully, that will help𒈔 get the ball rolling in the right direction as the 2024 season begins.
Patrick Flowers: Caleb Williams — Williams will need to show off his signature creativity in the passing game with a very good secondary on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Despite not getting the national treatment, all eyes will be on Williams on Sunday. He’s the story for the Chicago Bears right now, and seeing him get off to a hot start would send Bears fandom to heights they’ve never experienced. That sounds fun. Let’s do that.
