Caleb Williams didn’t have the debut he might have hoped for, but his defense came through for him.
Tyrique Stevenson made a big play by returning an interception 43 yards for a touchdown, helping the Chicago Bears defeat the Tennessee Titans 24-17 on Sunday.
The Bears, aiming for a playoff spot after a rough two seasons with a 10-24 record, came back from a 17-0 deficit in the first half. They managed to win without a touchdown from their new-look offense and shut down the Titans in the final two quarters, ruining the debut of Tennessee coach Brian Callahan.
“It was a frustrating game,” Williams said. “But the most important thing is that it shows a bunch of the personality of this team, I would say — the fight, the resiliency that we had.”
The game was also frustrating for Tennessee. Despite shutting down Chicago’s offense, the Titans gave up 17 points from turnovers.
“It was a winning effort on defense,” Callahan said. “They did a really nice job. They made life hard for those guys, exactly how we wanted to. And we just handed them points.”
Williams, the No. 1 overall pick, went 14 of 29 for 93 yards with a passer rating of 55.7. The former Heisman Trophy winner from Southern California became the first quarterback drafted first overall to win his debut start since 2002, when David Carr led Houston to a win over Dallas.
The last 15 No. 1 picks had a combined 0-14-1 record in their first starts, starting with Carson Palmer of Cincinnati in 2003.
The Bears had just reduced the Titans’ lead to 17-16 with a field goal from Cairo Santos when Stevenson scored his first career touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
With DeMarcus Walker about to sack him, Will Levis threw the ball in desperation. Stevenson intercepted it and ran down the sideline without being touched. A 2-point conversion pass from Williams to D’Andre Swift made the score 24-17.
Jaylon Johnson clinched the win with just over a minute left by intercepting a deep pass aimed at Tyler Boyd on fourth down at the Tennessee 40-yard line. This play gave the fans, who had been booing for much of the game, something to cheer about.
Since the Super Bowl era began, teams that have scored no touchdowns and were down by 17 or more points have a record of 3-1,225. Chicago is one of the teams with two such wins, including a victory over Arizona in 2006. The other win was by Kansas City against Carolina in 2016.
“It’s one hell of a team, a team full of dogs,” Stevenson said. “At some point it’s going to be them helping us out. It is what it is. We still got the win. I’m happy for the boys.”
With Williams struggling with his throws, Chicago’s top receivers were not very effective. DJ Moore caught five passes for 36 yards, Keenan Allen had 29 yards receiving in his Bears debut, and rookie Rome Odunze caught just one pass for 11 yards.
Chicago ended the game with 148 yards of offense, getting their only other touchdown from special teams. Daniel Hardy blocked a punt in the third quarter, and Jonathan Owens recovered it and ran 21 yards for a touchdown, bringing the Bears within 17-10.
Owens’ play excited the crowd and thrilled his wife, star gymnast Simone Biles, who responded “I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK” to a post on X about her reaction.
Owens scored his first touchdown as a Bear after playing for Green Bay last season, just a few weeks after taking a break from training camp to watch Biles win three Olympic gold medals and a silver in Paris.
“It felt amazing,” Owens said. “Going back to the sideline, all the guys are excited for you. The defense is excited. The energy from the stadium is just rolling in. It didn’t feel like real life.”
Santos made it 17-13 early in the fourth quarter with a 50-yard field goal. The Bears then had a big chance when Darrell Taylor strip-sacked Levis and T.J. Edwards recovered at the Tennessee 31. However, they settled for another field goal that brought them within one point.
