Caleb Williams wins in NFL debut as Bears rally past Titans

CHICAGO — With the game ball secured in his left arm, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams threw up his signature Bear claw with his right hand in response to the ovation he received from fans upon exiting the tunnel at Soldier Field.

In Chicago’s 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans, Williams became the first quarterback drafted with the No. 1 pick to win his first career start since David Carr in 2002. His performance, however, left the quarterback frustrated.

Williams completed 14 of 29 passes for 93 yards, did not throw a touchdown or an interception, fumbled once and was sacked twice. The rookie quarterback was off target on 31% of his throws and averaged 3.2 yards per pass attempt.

“We want to be the most efficient team out there, myself included,” Williams said. “Didn’t perform the way that I wanted to. I missed a few passes that I normally don’t miss, all these other things.

“Obviously, it’s great to get this first win. We’re all excited. Went to the locker room, celebrated. I sat down, enjoyed the moment, just watching all the guys celebrate understanding that I need to be better, I will be better.”

The Bears were nearly shutout in the first half before Cairo Santos kicked a 24-yard field goal to give Chicago its first points of the 2024 season. Santos connected on two more field goals, from 50 and 48 yards, respectively, after the Bears’ punt coverage unit broke open the game.

According to ESPN Analytics, the Bears had a 14% chance to beat the Titans before defensive end Daniel Hardy blocked a Tennessee punt with 3:19 remaining in the third quarter. Safety Jonathan Owens recovered the football and ran 21 yards for a touchdown to cut the Titans lead to 17-10.

“I didn’t know who blocked it,” Owens said. “I heard it and I had seen the ball bouncing around. There’s guys around and I just took off, instantaneous reaction. It was just crazy. The ball just right there, just picked it up and scoop. I’m just thinking take off and run full speed. I get in the end zone and it didn’t really feel like real life for a second. That’s why I’m kind of looking back, like did I just score?”

Chicago’s defense, which ranked No. 1 against the run in 2023 (86.4 yards allowed per game) struggled to contain Tennessee’s rushing attack in the first half. The Titans churned out 115 yards on 16 carries in the first two quarters before the Bears clamped down after halftime (25 yards on 10 rushes in the second half, 0.7 yards allowed before first contact).

One drive after recording a strip-sack fumble, which gave Chicago’s offense the ball back and resulted in Santos’ third field goal to cut Tennessee’s lead to 17-16, the Bears defense experienced a breakthrough of its own.

Facing third-and-6 from Tennessee’s 45-yard line, Bears coach Matt Eberflus dialed up a blitz that got home to Titans quarterback Will Levis. Upon being hit, Levis flipped the ball toward the sideline.

But instead of the ball going out of bounds, Chicago cornerback Tyrique Stevenson nabbed a 43-yard pick-six that gave the Bears their first lead of the day. Williams and the offense contributed their first points on the subsequent 2-point conversion when the rookie connected with running back D’Andre Swift to take a 24-17 lead.

“We always want to be the spark of the team,” Stevenson said of the Bears defense. “We know Caleb coming in was going to have his ups and downs. This might not have been the game he wanted but we’re just his kickstand. We got him and he got us.”

The Bears are the first team in NFL history to win a game in which they trailed by at least 17 points and had fewer than 150 total yards. Williams struggles’ came in a variety of areas in his NFL debut: He was 0-of-6 under duress, 2-of-8 for 19 yards against the blitz and 4-of-13 for 40 yards on throws of more than 5 air yards.

“They did nothing spectacular,” Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said. “What we got to do is just get the ball. I didn’t see nothing spectacular. They didn’t do s— on offense, so I’m excited about what we had on defense.”

Postgame, Williams equated his frustrations to the 48-20 loss USC had at Notre Dame in 2023. Being able to lean on the Bears defense and special teams unit provided enough for a 1-0 start and the type of momentum the quarterback believes will yield similar outcomes in future games.

“It was a frustrating game,” Williams said. “But the most important thing and it shows a bunch of the personality of this team, I would say. The fight, the resiliency that we had.

“And we weren’t shaming on anybody. Defense not getting on the offense, all these other things. It shows the personality, how much everybody believes in ourselves, the Chicago Bears, defense believes in the offense, offense believes in the defense, special teams and so forth.”