The Chicago Bears survived a scare from the Tennessee Titans. The defense allowed 17 points in the first half, and the offense looked disjointed throughout the day, but they are 1-0, and that is all that matters. Moving forward, if there is one thing that fans may want to worry about, it is the play at center.
The Chicago Bears have an issue at the center position once again
This was expected. The Bears did not do right by Coleman Shelton. They would start him and pull him early in training camp as Ryan Bates would move back and forth between guard and center. The Bears could have named Shelton the starter from the jump, but they have a weird commitment to Bates and wanted to make it work until they could not afford to play him there due to issues at right guard.
So, Shelton is with a new team, a new rookie quarterback, and his offseason was spent moving around and not working exclusively with Williams. Those are small excuses and do not takeaway from how poor he played in week one, though.
Shelton was a mess from the jump. He struggled to pick up stunts, he was bullied by linebackers and even young nose tackle Keondre Coburn blew right by him. The Titans have a strong front, and he lost to guys like Jefferey Simmons and rookie T’Vondre Sweat, which is acceptable. The losses to Coburn and getting plowed over by Ernest Jones is not.
The Bears have had a problem at center for years, and this week did not ease any concerns.
You would assume that Shelton can start to develop with Williams and shake the rust off, but nothing from week one should make Bears fans feel good about his signing.