What we learned from Bears comeback over Titans: Special teams, defense shines

By Adam Jahns, Kevin Fishbain and Joe Rexrode

NFL Week 1 scores and live updates: Schedule, news, analysis, inactives, observations from Sunday’s games

Spurred by a special teams touchdown from Jonathan Owens, the husband of Olympic legend Simone Biles, the Chicago Bears scored 21 unanswered points to pick up a 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans in the Week 1 matchup at Soldier Field.

Trailing 17-3 in the third quarter, Owens scored on a scoop-and-score after Daniel Hardy blocked a Ryan Stonehouse punt, returning it 21 yards for the Bears’ first touchdown of the season.

I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK https://t.co/SmqPk06QCN

— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 8, 2024

Two Cairo Santos field goals and a Tyrique Stevenson pick-six later, the Bears took a 24-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Chicago cornerback Jaylon Johnson sealed the win with an interception with 1:15 to play giving Chicago’s No. 1 pick Caleb Williams a win in his debut.

Bears win despite tough Williams debut

Williams had a bad debut. There’s no other way to put it. He was for 14-of-29 passing for 93 yards. His longest completion was 13 yards. He had a 55.7 passer rating. But the Bears still won. And that’s all that matters in the end. The Bears defense is good enough to take some pressure off Williams as he goes through his rookie growing pains. It might not work every week. But it can work against Will Levis and quarterbacks like him. — Adam Jahns, Bears beat writer

An old-school Bears win

We’ve seen many Bears games like this when the team was at its best in the Lovie Smith and Vic Fangio days. But we didn’t expect a Bears win without 100 yards of passing with Williams at quarterback. But he said it this week — whatever it takes for a win, and Stevenson’s pick-six, a blocked-punt-return touchdown and a suffocating second-half defense sparked a wild comeback to get the Bears to 1-0. — Kevin Fishbain, Bears beat writer

Nightmare start for Levis

Titans QB Levis was doing just fine for much of his first game running the offense of first-time head coach Brian Callahan. He missed what should have been a long touchdown pass to Calvin Ridley, but made some nice throws and key runs as the Titans built a 17-0 lead.

Then he went middle-school football and gave the game to the Bears. There’s no excuse or explanation for going down on third down in the hands of a defender, not being able to throw the ball and trying to flip it instead to a receiver more than 10 yards away. The Titans were up 17-16 and playing great defense at that point. Levis (19 of 32, 127 yards, touchdown, two interceptions) lost the game right there and did nothing to respond afterward. That’s a rough sight for the Titans. — Joe Rexrode, Nashville columnist

Titans look good on defense, but O-line issues continue

Callahan’s father, Bill, is one of the most celebrated offensive line coaches in NFL history, and early in this game his impact was seen — the Titans were paving the way for big running lanes, protecting well and getting good snaps from rookie left tackle JC Latham and much of the retooled line.

But the Bears gradually asserted themselves and ended up with a pair of sacks, five quarterback hits and eight tackles for loss. Latham was beat badly on one of the game’s key plays, a Darrell Taylor strip sack of Levis. And right guard Dillon Radunz got hurt. It served to betray a defensive effort that yielded just 148 total yards and 2-of-13 success on third down. — Rexrode

Required reading

(Photo: Quinn Harris / Getty Images)