The Tennessee Titans have given new coach Mike Munchak a great teaching point that what matters most is how a team finishes.

Seventh-round draft pick Tommie Campbell returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown, and the Titans rallied to beat the Chicago Bears 14-13 on Saturday night after what Munchak called a pretty flat start.

The Titans (2-1) had trouble stopping Chicago (1-2) as the Bears outgained Tennessee 416-220, but came up with two interceptions.

Campbell, the cornerback from Division II California (Pa.), picked off Caleb Hanie’s pass late in the third quarter and ran up the left sideline untouched to put Tennessee ahead to stay.

“They executed better than we did at parts of that game than we did,” Munchak said. “We eventually made enough plays to win the game.”

The Titans had dominated the stats a week ago only to lose to St. Louis on a last-second field goal. This time, Campbell came up with the interception, though he didn’t know how to celebrate.

“I knew I had to do something,” Campbell said. “It was all just fun and games. I was just hyped. I probably smacked 50 people in the end zone.’

Chicago protected its quarterbacks well, allowing a lone sack when Hanie was taken down inside the final minute in a mark of improvement for the team that reached the NFC championship game last season.

Bears coach Lovie Smith called the game an improvement over Monday night’s 41-13 loss to the New York Giants. He liked how the offense moved the ball but not the turnovers or the inability to finish drives.

“It’s one thing to get yards, but they don’t determine the winner based on yards,” Smith said. “It’s about points and we have to get points.”

Chicago’s Jay Cutler played one series into the third quarter and was 13 of 21 for 170 yards with his one interception coming on the opening drive. Matt Forte ran 17 times for 74 yards and a touchdown, but Marion Barber hurt his calf early and did not return. Tight end Desmond Clark was carted off the field in the fourth quarter with a knee injury after being hit by Anthony Smith.

The Titans played with receiver Kenny Britt scratched for a third straight game as he recovers from a sore right hamstring, and Chris Johnson still holding out for a new contract. His backup, Javon Ringer, missed his second consecutive game because of a sore hip, and those absences really showed in the offense this time.

Munchak even was booed for the first time when he chose to punt facing fourth-and-1 at his own 34 in the third quarter and trailing 14-10.

“We just weren’t playing smart, making some bad decisions,” Munchak said.

Matt Hasselbeck had been nearly perfect since signing with Tennessee, completing 12 of his first 15 passes over the first two exhibitions. Against the Bears, he was 12 of 22 for 134 yards as he played one series into the third quarter as well. Hasselbeck was the victim of a couple drops, but he completed 5 of 6 passes in driving the Titans 80 yards at the end of the first half.

Hasselbeck said he’s never really had Britt or Johnson so far.

“So I don’t know how to miss them. I just think we weren’t real crisp. We didn’t’ play tonight like we practiced,” Hasselbeck said.

Rookie Jamie Harper got his second straight start and scored his third TD this preseason on a 9-yard run to cap the drive.

It was Cutler’s first game as a pro in the city where he was the Southeastern Conference player of the year in 2005 playing for Vanderbilt.

“Well, we got better again,” Cutler said. “We left some points out there, you hate to see that but our offensive line played better, the receivers played better and Matt ran the ball. So, we’re getting there. We’re not quite ready for the opener but we’re getting there.”

Tennessee had a chance to turn safety Michael Griffin’s pick of Cutler’s tipped pass into points but had to settle for a 51-yard field-goal attempt that Rob Bironas pushed wide right.

The Bears came right back. Cutler drove them down the field over 12 plays with Forte scoring from 3 yards out for a 7-0 lead. Robbie Gould also kicked a 45-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead but clanked a 29-yarder off the left upright in the second quarter.

The Bears kept moving the ball easily against a Titans defense that had allowed only 20 points combined through the first two exhibitions. Tennessee has a new coordinator in Jerry Gray with a unit revamped to put more size on the field. Forte ripped through the Titans almost at will.

Notes: Titans rookie P Chad Cunningham may have had the play of the night. His punt in the fourth quarter was blocked, and he picked it up off the bounce and ran for a first down. … The Bears scratched LB Lance Briggs, WR Sam Hurd and DT Anthony Adams while waiving as injured rookie CB Mike Holmes before the game.

By Russ Oates

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Aug 27, 2011 – The Chicago Bears (1-1) received a humiliating loss at the hands of the New York Giants on Monday, 41-13. Jay Cutler and Caleb Hanie combined for 333 passing yards, but the Bears defense was sieve against the run, allowing 218 yards. Da’Rel Scott pulled off a 97-yard touchdown run against the Giants’ third-stringers in the fourth quarter.

One position battle to take note of in this game is at wide receiver. The Bears brought in Roy Williams to be a starter, but of late he has failed to provide a sufficient performance for his coaches. He is in danger of losing his starting job to Johnny Knox.

The Tennessee Titans (1-1) lost on a last-second field goal by the St. Louis Rams’ Josh Brown, 17-16. But the team survived an earlier scare when Matt Hasselbeck hit his head during the second quarter. It turned out that he bit his tongue. Jake Locker completed just 8-of-18 passes in relief of Hasselbeck, but he may not see much playing time in this game.

Still, the big concern with the Titans is over the absence of running back Chris Johnson. Johnson has been a holdout during training camp since Aug. 9 while he seeks a new contract with the team. He had a meeting with the team on Wednesday, but it appears that there was little progress on a new contract. On the bright side of things, Music City Miracles points out, the team has avoided major injuries so far.

Game Date/Time: Saturday, Aug. 27; 8:00 p.m. ET

Location: LP Field, Nashville, TN

TV Schedule:
Bears: WFLD Fox Chicago
Titans: WKRN ABC 2

TV Distribution Map: The506.com

Radio Schedule
Bears: WBBM Newsradio 780
Titans: WGFX 104.5 The Zone

For more on the Bears visit Windy City Gridiron and SB Nation Chicago. Check out Music City Miracles for more on the Titans. Visit SB Nation NFL for more on Week 3 of the preseason.

Read More: Matt Hasselbeck (QB – TEN), Jay Cutler (QB – CHI), Caleb Hanie (QB – CHI), Johnny Knox (WR – CHI), Jake Locker (QB – TEN), Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Titans had some VIP guests watching their training camp on Thursday.

250 service members from Fort Campbell were treated to an all access day of football. Titans’ players and members of the coaching staff took some time out of their practice schedule to meet members of the 101st Airborne division.

The Screaming Eagles were escorted to Baptist Sports Park by the USO Mobile program, which is making a 21 city NFL training camp tour.

Titans Owner Bud Adams takes a lot of pride in giving back to the all of the outstanding men and women who serve and protect our country.

Titans Head Coach Mike Munchak also presented the 101st a free ticket to the Titans game against the Chicago Bears on August 27th..

The Titans have just two more days of training camp practice. They will travel on Friday to St. Louis for their second preseason game on Saturday.

The Hall of Fame offensive lineman hired close friend Bruce Matthews, also a Hall of Famer, to replace him. Then the Titans re-signed left guard Leroy Harris to make sure all five starters returned intact to block again for Chris Johnson.

Matthews says the Titans are very fortunate with three linemen who played every snap in 2010. Bringing back Harris on a two-year deal allows them to build on all the work the linemen put in last season.

“My goal is not to screw up what Munch left me with,” Matthews said with a smile. “It’s a very sound group.”

Munchak coached the offensive line from 1997-2010. In that time, the Titans ranked second in the NFL in fewest sacks allowed, averaged 28.3 sacks per season, and ranked seventh in allowing 124.5 yards rushing per game.

Tennessee’s strong offensive line was a big reason Matt Hasselbeck decided to sign a three-year deal with the Titans.

Yet Munchak only got to start the same five linemen in consecutive seasons twice while coaching the line. So Matthews, working with Art Valero, is starting in an enviable position.

“The big thing you know is knowing the guys who play next to you,” Matthews said. “We’re very fortunate on this team. We had three guys last year that played every rep, and then we had the left guard and center position where we got some young guys who came in and stepped up.”

Michael Roos has started every game since being drafted in the second round in 2005, the last 65 at left tackle. David Stewart has missed only one game in three seasons at right tackle. Jake Scott is going into his fourth season with Tennessee.

A year ago, the Titans chose to let center Kevin Mawae, the NFL Players Association president, leave as a free agent. He later retired. Eugene Amano shifted from left guard to center while Harris moved into the starting lineup at left guard.

Tennessee stumbled to a 6-10 mark in 2010 after a 5-2 start, but the line helped Johnson run for 1,364 yards a year after his 2,006-yard season.

The Titans didn’t put the final piece back in place on the offensive line until last week after players had reported for the start of training camp. The Titans called Harris’ agent and finally made an offer on a two-year deal about four hours after his wife gave birth.

Amano said bringing back Harris was a good thing.

“To keep that camaraderie, keeping all of us together. We’re a year under our belt, and we’re a year comfortable playing with each other,” Amano said. “I think that year that we played will help us and will build on for the future.”

The 6-foot-3, 303-pound Harris can’t join his linemates on the field until Thursday night. He is eager to build on the familiarity and communication he and his teammates started last season.

“You play faster,” Harris said. “You don’t have to worry about it. You’re not worried about stepping on each other’s feet or something like that when you have a feel for each other. Everything runs a lot smoother.”

Harris also knows one area he wants to improve, as well: cut back the negative runs. According to STATS LLC, the Titans were stuffed 51 times on 406 rushing attempts in losing 129 yards. Only Chicago and Washington had more with 53 each.

“That set us up for bad situations,” Harris said. “Third-and-long, it cuts your playbook down when you’re second-and-15, second-and-13. We’ve got to cut those long runs out. I’m pretty sure we had twice as many as we had the year before. That’s one of the main things to work on.”

The Titans are pretty happy to be able to quiz a Hall of Fame lineman for tips on how to handle different rushers.

“To go from Mike Munchak to Bruce Matthews, we’re in a good situation,” Amano said. “We’re pretty lucky to land Bruce as a coach.”

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