KEY MATCHUP
With at least three Week 1 starters out — left guard James Daniels, center Cody Whitehair and right tackle Bobby Massie — and backup right tackle Jason Spriggs on the COVID-19 list, the Bears will have a makeshift offensive line in this game.
Seventh-round rookie Arlington Hambright is expected to start at left guard, with second-year undrafted free agent Alex Bars at center and former defensive tackle Rashaad Coward at right tackle. An injury to backup center Sam Mustipher last week left the Bear without a center on their roster — nobody who even played center in college, in fact.
That presents a big opportunity for the Titans’ front seven — especially defensive linemen Jeffery Simmons, Daquan Jones and Jack Crawford vs. the Bears interior offensive line. The Titans have struggled to stop the run (128.1 yards per game, 22nd in the NFL) and sack the quarterback (seven, 31st in sacks per pass play).
Three-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, is questionable (knee), but his impact has been limited this season — no sacks, six quarterback hits, three tackles-for-loss. So this could end up being a not-so-titanic battle of the movable object vs. the repressible force.
TRENDING
Bears place-kicker Cairo Santos has made his last 11 field-goal attempts, including a clutch 51-yarder with 13 seconds left in regulation to force overtime against the Saints last week. Santos has made 14-of-16 field goal attempts and 15-of-15 PATs this season.
The last time he played at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Santos went 0-for-4 on field-goal attempts for the Titans in a 14-7 loss to the Bills and was cut the following day. The Bears signed him … and the rest is history.
PLAYER TO WATCH
The days of the one-man wrecking crew in the backfield are withering in the NFL, but the Titans’ Derrick Henry can be an unstoppable force, as the Patriots and Ravens found out in the playoffs last season.
Henry, who led the NFL with 1,540 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns last season, again leads the league, with 775 rushing yards and eight touchdowns at mid-season.
The Steelers held Henry to 75 yards on 20 carries (3.8 avg.) in Week 6, but the once-impregnable Bears’ run defense will be challenged to match that. The Bears are 16th in the NFL in run defense.
X-FACTOR
The Bears have had a tumultuous week, with two players on the COVID-19 list, Cody Whitehair testing positive, wide receiver Javon Wims’ two-game suspension for slugging Saints cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson, losing an on-field practice Thursday and then having to travel to Nashville.
Coach Matt Nagy has been expert at guiding his team through adversity with a steady hand in his three seasons. Against a quality opponent, he’ll need that touch more than ever in this one.
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November 07, 2020 at 08:00PM
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Bears vs. Titans: What to Watch 4 - Chicago Sun-Times
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