The Bears were outrebounded by the Titans 244-148, failing to score a single offensive touchdown. Williams completed 14 of 29 passes for 93 yards and a 55.7 passer rating. Swift led the Bears in rushing with 30 yards on 10 carries.

“Offensive play, we obviously didn’t perform the way we wanted to,” Williams said. “We want to be the most efficient team, myself included. Didn’t perform the way I wanted to. I missed a couple of passes that I normally don’t miss… I felt like I was in the right place at the right time, and I would say I saw it well. I missed and shot wrong and put the ball where I wanted to.”

The Titans took a 7-0 lead on Tony Pollard’s 26-yard touchdown run with :41 left in the first quarter, capping an 8-play, 79-yard drive. The score came after the Bears defense forced three-and-outs on Tennessee’s first two possessions.

Velus Jones Jr. dropped the ball on the kickoff, fired it forward and the Titans’ Julius Chestnut collected the ball at the Chicago 23-yard line.

Taylor had the Bears’ first sack of the season and Tennessee had to settle for a 40-yard field goal by Nick Folk to increase the margin to 10-0.

The Titans extended their lead to 17-0 on Levis’ 17-yard TD pass to tight end Chig Okonkwo with 3:44 left in the first half. The TD capped a 14-play, 73-yard drive that was buoyed by Levis’ 22-yard pass to Calvin Ridley on third-and-15 and an offside penalty on Montez Sweat on third-and-5.

DeAndre Carter, who already had punt returns of 16 and 20 yards, returned the ensuing kickoff 67 yards to the Titans’ 34-yard line. That set up Santos’ 24-yard field goal that pulled the Bears within 17-3 with :27 left in the first half.

The Titans outscored the Bears 88-5 in the first quarter and 179-51 in the first half.

The Bears’ offense stalled again on their first drive of the second half, going down on fourth-and-30 to score after two incomplete passes, two penalties and a sack.

But the defense and special teams saved the day, giving the Bears the win in the season opener.

After allowing three straight touchdowns and a field goal in the first half, the defense held the Titans to zero in the second half.

“I think we just had to take a moment and realize who we are,” Stevenson said. “We had to stop playing for the hype, stop playing for everything around us and just realize that we work hard for a moment like this.”

“We just responded,” Johnson added. “We knew that wasn’t our style. We had some big explosive plays on runs that got away from us, some miscommunication. But overall we kept pushing, kept going. We know we’re a dominant defense and that’s what we showed.”