What was supposed to be the beginning of a new era at quarterback looked a lot like the previous two.
The Bears’ defense and special teams, though, looked even more like the peak Lovie Smith teams, rescuing Caleb Williams’ NFL debut from disaster and giving the Bears a 24-17 victory against the Titans at Soldier Field. The Bears rallied from a 17-0 deficit with two minutes to play in the first half to win the opener.
The Bears scored on cornerback Tyrique Stevenson’s 43-yard interception, safety Jonathan Owens’ 21-yard punt block return and three Cairo Santos field goals.
Williams became the first quarterback drafted No. 1 among the last 11 to do so to win his debut. His contributions, though, were minimal. Williams went 14-for-29 for 92 yards and a woeful 55.5 passer rating. Five of the Bears’ possessions had four plays or fewer, and four had no first downs.
The punt, which was blocked by defensive lineman Daniel Hardy early in the second half, pulled the Bears within seven points. The Bears couldn’t score in the third quarter, and neither could the Titans. Early in the fourth, new edge rusher Darrell Taylor — whom the Bears traded for last month — sacked Titans quarterback Will Levis on third down, forcing a fumble, forcing a fumble that squirted out of a pile of humanity and into the arms of linebacker T.J. Edwards. The Bears took over at the Titans’ 31, managed just one yard and had to kick their second-straight field goal to go down by one.
They took the lead for good when Levis made the biggest mistake in a day filled with both of them — on both sides. On third-and-six halfway through the fourth quarter, Levis dropped back, looked left and was torn to the ground by defensive end DeMarcus Walker. Rather than take the sack, Levis tried to flip the ball backhanded toward the left sideline, where it was picked off by Stevenson and returned for a touchdown. The Bears converted the two-point conversion to go up 24-17.
Jaylon Johnson intercepted Levis on fourth down with 1:05 to play to ice the game.