Tennessee Titans Week 1 matchup at the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams is perfect for 5 reasons

This is the fourth consecutive year that the Titans have opened up against an NFC opponent. And usually the NFL gives the Titans a stinker of an opponent that won't draw any significant fanfare. Not this time. They get to kick things off against the number one overall draft pick in Caleb Williams. The league may be thinking the Titans are a perfect matchup to hand their new star his first career victory but they might just be wrong.

Titans vs. Bears is somehow already a revenge game

The last time Caleb Williams and Titans' running back Tyjae Spears faced off against each other it was two years ago in the Cotton Bowl matchup between Tulane and USC. Spears went off for over 200 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. And new Titans' rookie wide receiver Jha'Quan Jackson snagged an 87-yard touchdown immediately following a Caleb Williams interception.

Tulane went on to win the game 46-45, ending Williams' special Heisman season in spectacularly disappointing fashion. Williams may be looking for some revenge, but there are several reasons that he may come up short yet again.

Reasons why Bears are the Perfect Week 1 Matchup for Titans

While the official betting line already has the Titans as an early underdog against the Bears, Tennessee truly does have a leg up in so many ways.

Caleb Williams' first NFL Game

First and foremost, this will be Caleb Williams' first NFL game. He may be attempting to gel with his new offense, receivers, offensive line, and everyone around him as best he can this summer, but he's still going to have significant room to improve when he laces up against the Titans in September.

Titans New Defensive Coordinator

The Tennessee Titans brought in Dennard Wilson to be their new defensive coordinator this season. He brings with him over 15 years of NFL experience coaching up defensive backs, but this is his first time as an official defensive coordinator. The Bears will have absolutely nothing to work with when it comes to teaching Caleb Williams what to watch for against Wilson's new defensive scheme. He'll be flying blind as both a rookie and a quarterback facing a defensive coordinator with no tape to really plan against.

Titans Cornerback Trio

As has been mentioned throughout this offseason, the Tennessee Titans now have the most expensive cornerback tandem in the league in L'Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie. That duo collectively allowed a passer rating around 80 (out of 158.3), a completion rate below 60%, and only about 6.5 yards per target over the last two seasons.

When you add Roger McCreary to the mix, one of the most feisty, aggressive slot cornerbacks in the NFL, you get an elite trio of defensive backs for Caleb Williams to face off against in his first ever NFL game. While it's true that Williams has a talented trio of receivers between Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, and first round rookie Rome Odunze, the Titans actually possess one of the few secondaries that match up well against them.

Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat

One thing Caleb Williams did not deal well with in his final college season was pressure up the middle and from his blind side specifically. In fact, according to Pro Football Focus he posted the fourth highest turnover worthy play rate among all FBS quarterbacks when pressured last fall (min. 100 drop backs). If the monster duo of Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat can force pressure up the middle with Harold Landry coming from his back side, Williams is going to be in trouble early and often.

Kevin Byard and the Bears Secondary

One more underrated "revenge game" narrative in this matchup stems from the fact that former All-Pro Titans' safety Kevin Byard is now with the Bears. That once would have been rather intimidating. However, last season once the Titans traded him to the Eagles, Byard allowed a completion rate of 84% when targeted. That's just about the worst mark in the entire league among safeties.

The other starting safety, Jaquan Brisker is strong in run defense, but is also more often than not a liability in coverage. The Bears do have a couple incredibly physical young cornerbacks in Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson, but there should be room for a few huge plays against Chicago's weaker safety tandem. 

As you can see, the Titans drawing the Bears in Week 1 is the perfect opportunity to kick off the season with a win for the Two-Tone Blue. Be looking for more Tennessee Titans coverage here at A to Z Sports all year long! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!