Hub Arkush: Bears, Titans matchup features classic strength vs. strength, weakness vs. weakness

LAKE FOREST – The Chicago Bears face the Tennessee Titans on Sunday with both teams riding two-game losing streaks and the Bears coming off a week in which everything that could go wrong did as they prepared for this game.

However the Bears week from hell isn’t in the same league as the challenges the Titans faced last month when their facility was shut down for almost two weeks and with virtually no on field preparation they came back on a Tuesday night and hammered the now 6-2 Buffalo Bills.

There was good news for the Bears on Friday morning as reports indicated Mitch Trubisky will not need surgery and is now week-to-week, and Germain Ifedi returned to the active roster from the COVID-19 Reserve list and that could make a big difference.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

Derrick Henry vs. Bilal Nichols, Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan

Nichols is doing a decent job overall trying to fill in for the opted out Eddie Goldman but he just isn’t as stout as Goldman and struggles at times to occupy blockers and clog the middle, which you must do to get backs off schedule.

Smith and Trevathan are both smaller than Henry and their tackling has been sloppy at times. Their gap integrity and wrapping up Henry in the hole will be key to the defense’s success.

As Tashaun Gipson told me Friday, “You know how you’ve got to chop a tree down, you’ve got to go low. We know the offense runs through him, if you can get him to stop his feet, if you can get him under control that offense is a different offense.”

COACHING DECISION TO WATCH

Will Chuck Pagano dare Ryan Tannehill to beat the Bears through the air by stacking the box with Tashaun Gipson?

Extra eyes and bodies on Henry has to be a temptation but Tannehill continues to perform and produce at a Pro Bowl level, and his lesser-known receiving corps is vastly underrated.

Up and coming wideout A.J. Brown missed practice late in the week with a knee issue and if he were unable to go it would remove one very valuable weapon from the Titans air arsenal and could tempt Pagano to roll the dice even more.

But what we’ve seen of the Bears defensive coordinator to date is he’s really not a gambler.

PLAYER (S) TO WATCH

Rashaad Coward, Alex Bars and Arlington Hambright

Who goes and who can’t on the Bears offensive line is the great unknown right now but we assume Coward will be at right tackle and Bars will be at left guard, unless Bars has to slide inside to center, which he’s never played and Hambright starts at guard.

Tennessee’s defensive front is its greatest weakness so this is certainly the most “intriguing” matchup to watch.

NT Daquan Jones and 5-Techniques Jack Crawford and Jeffery Simmons will offer the primary matchups and none have been very impressive to date this season.

THE X-FACTOR

Corey Davis, Jonnu Smith

Wideout Davis (3 TDs) and tight end Smith (5 TDs) are the quiet assassins on the Titans’ offense who clearly benefit from the hyper focus on Henry.

If Brown (5 TDs) is unable to go these two Tannehill targets will try to be the difference in the game.

WILD-CARD PLAYER(S) WHO COULD SURPRISE

Nick Foles and Harold Landry III

For the Bears to pull this off Foles is going to have to have his best game as a Bear, something we’ve seen no signs of since the final gun in Atlanta. History tells us he has it in him and the time is now.

Landry is supposed to be Tennessee’s primary pass rush threat but really hasn’t shown up yet this season. Can he exploit the Bears makeshift front?

KEY STATS

Titans Defense: 25th Tot. Def., 23rd vs. Run, 31st QB Sack %., 32nd 3rd Downs

THE FINAL WORD

Bears 27, Titans 24

I know this makes little sense on a number of fronts but sometimes you just have to go with your gut.

There is too much talent on this Bears team to be done at midseason and while a loss here doesn’t finish them, an upset under real adversity with a little bit of Hollywood could certainly turn them around.

Cairo Santos is money as a Bear now because 13 months ago the Titans cut him the day after he went 0-4 on field goals in a 14-7 loss to Buffalo.

Let’s call the wining kick as time expires Cairo’s revenge.