CHICAGO – It doesn’t matter if it’s a preseason game – Dalyn Dawkins has a number in mind.
Dawkins rushed for 117 yards and also caught two touchdown passes as the Tennessee Titans closed their NFL preseason schedule with a 19-15 victory over the Chicago Bears on Thursday night.
“It means a lot – every game I play I try get a hundred yards or more,” Dawkins said. “That is always my goal, my personal goal.”
With top running back Derrick Henry sitting out for the Titans (2-2) alongside other starters, Dawkins took advantage of the playing time. With Tennessee trailing 15-12, he sneaked out of the backfield and toward the sideline to catch a 3-yard touchdown pass from Logan Woodside on third-and-goal with 1:25 remaining. It finished an eight-play, 68-yard drive.
“Every time we got back in the huddle, I kept reminding the guys we’ve got to have a sense of urgency and keep going,” Dawkins said. “And the defense got tired and we just kept going, kept pushing.”
Dawkins also caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Woodside in the second quarter. Besides his 13 rushes, Dawkins also had four catches for 31 yards.
“That was one thing in the offseason that we looked at, an area in focus of his was catching the football,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “We always knew he was a good runner.”
Woodside played the entire game in place of starter Marcus Mariota and backup Ryan Tannehill and completed 17 of 29 passes for 212 yards.
“I just tried to go out there and make the most out of it and not try to make it any bigger than it needs to be,” Woodside said.
Ryan Succop made a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter to draw the Titans within 12-9 and added a fourth-quarter kick of 23 yards to cut the deficit to 15-12.
Tennessee’s regular-season opener is Sept. 8, on the road against the Cleveland Browns.
Eddy Pineiro went 3-for-3 on field goals for the Bears (1-3), but he also missed an extra-point try in his bid to secure a roster spot.
“It was pretty windy, but a professional athlete,” Pineiro said after kicking into 20 mph wind. “You’ve got to put it through the upright.”
Pineiro converted field goals from 32, 39 and 35 yards
“We talk about it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said. “I like the fact he came back and made those.”
Tyler Bray threw an 8-yard pass to Jesper Horsted for the Bears’ first points. Bray played the entire game and completed 28 of 40 passes for 334 yards.
Thomas Ives had five receptions for 99 yards, while Horsted caught five for 82 yards.
Tennessee came up with three sacks against Chicago, two by Derick Roberson.
The Titans had only two sacks in their first three preseason games and only one by a defensive lineman – Isaiah Mack, the former Northwest Whitfield High School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout who signed as an undrafted free agent this past spring. Mack had enjoyed a solid camp and preseason, but he was held out of Thursday’s game.
“Everything is on a case-by-case basis,” Vrabel said. “Whether we decide to play a guy or not, whether I think he needs more work. He just didn’t play tonight.”
Nagy wasn’t saying after the game whether he was leaning toward keeping Pineiro on the roster or looking at other kickers, but he said he would have patience if Pineiro ends up being the kicker for next Thursday’s NFL 100 season opener against the visiting Green Bay Packers.
“There’s some interesting numbers for kickers who have struggled coming out of the gates that are now Hall of Famers and Pro Bowl kickers,” Nagy said. “If I don’t have patience at that position, I really think we’re chasing the cat’s tail, and that’s not what I want to feel about it. That’s not what I’m all about.”
Pineiro finished the preseason 8-of-9 on field goals and 3-of-4 on PATs.
“I felt like I gave it all I’ve got,” Pineiro said. “It’s up to them now.”
Pineiro wasn’t the only kicker missing an extra point into the wind. Tennessee’s Succop had just come off the physically unable to perform list a week earlier and missed an extra point with 5:36 left in the second quarter. Succop had made two short field goals in his preseason debut Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.