CHICAGO – Early in the summer the storyline was that the Bears defense might have to carry Caleb Williams and the rest of the new-look offense while they got their sea legs. Hard to imagine anybody expected it to look like the team’s performance in Week 1, though.
The offense was clunky, like it had been for portions of training camp. But it struggled in most areas, not just one. The line didn’t get much push against the talented Titans front. Williams looked out of sync with most of his receivers. Running backs went nowhere. Things looked bleak.
By the time the fourth quarter started, it looked like the Bears were on their way to a disappointing loss to start the year.
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Until the defense took over.
After getting gashed for most of the game, the pass rushers started to get home and make plays on the ball. They started creating turnovers. A blocked punt returned for a touchdown began to turn the tides. Finally, in the fourth quarter, head coach Matt Eberflus dialed up extra pressure on a 3rd-and-6 play. Tremaine Edmunds and Kyler Gordon joined the defensive line to attack Will Levis and it worked. Levis threw an ill-advised pass, Stevenson stepped in front of it and returned it for a game-winning touchdown.
Just how things were drawn up, right?
Beyond the heroics at the end of the game, here were the Bears’ studs in their 24-17 win over the Titans, and here were the guys who will need to clean some things up before Week 2.
NFL
STUDS
DEANDRE CARTER
The Bears brought in Carter to make an impact on special teams, and he made his presence felt right away. Carter won the starting punt return job out of camp and gained 16 yards on his first opportunity of the year. The plan was for Velus Jones Jr. to return kickoffs– more on that later– but Carter ended up replacing him mid-game. He impressed again, with a 67-yarder, the most dynamic dynamic kick return we’ve seen from the Bears.
T.J. EDWARDS
The Bears defense struggled to contain both Will Levis and the Titans run game for much of the day, but Edwards stood out as an effective tackler. He picked up right where he left off last year and led the team with 15 tackles. Edwards was able to make plays with both his sideline-to-sideline agility and his knack for shedding blocks.
DARRELL TAYLOR
The newest member of the pass rush squad had the biggest impact on Sunday. Taylor worked as DE3 behind Montez Sweat and DeMarcus Walker, and made it onto the field as an extra pass rusher on third-down subpackages where Walker would kick inside to DT. Taylor generated consistent pressure on the second wave and notched the first Bears sack of the season. He followed that up with a strip sack in the fourth quarter that led to a Bears field goal.
DUDS
VELUS JONES JR.
The dynamic kickoff was supposed to play to Jones Jr.’s strengths this season. Instead the same ball security issues that have plagued his entire career as a return man popped up on his first opportunity of the regular season. Jones Jr. muffed a kickoff, then kicked the ball forward about 20 yards. The Titans recovered and started their drive well into Bears territory. The team was fortunate to get a stop and hold them to a field goal.
We’ve now seen Jones Jr. get the chance to return three kicks between the preseason and Week 1. He muffed two of them.
KEENAN ALLEN
The Bears brought in Allen this year because he’s an excellent route runner with some of the best hands in the league. The hope was that he would be a dependable target for Caleb Williams to help ease the rookie into the NFL as much as possible. It looked like the two were going to connect for Williams’ first NFL touchdown, but Allen dropped a ball that hit him right in the hands.
That was a microcosm of the duo’s struggles together. Williams targeted Allen 11 times, but they only hooked up for four catches that went for 29 yards.
INTERIOR OFFENSIVE LINE
Entering the year, the biggest question was if the middle of the line could hold up well enough to give Williams clear lanes, and if they could open up holes for the running backs. On Sunday they struggled in each department. Williams had pressure in his face most of the day and had several passes batted down at the line of scrimmage. Rushers had almost no space to work with. Swift, who was brought in this year to lead the backfield, carried the ball 10 times for 30 yards for a 3.0 YPC average– and 20 of those yards came on one carry in the fourth quarter after the Bears had taken the wind out of the Titans’ sails.