CHICAGO — — This wasn’t exactly the debut Caleb Williams had in mind. Luckily for him, his defense made just enough plays.

Tyrique Stevenson returned an interception 43 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, part of a defensive performance that helped Williams out. The Chicago Bears defeated the Tennessee Titans 24-17 on Sunday.

The Bears, eyeing a playoff spot after going 10-24 the previous two seasons, rallied from a 17-0 first-half deficit without a touchdown from their revamped offense, holding off the Titans in the final two quarters and spoiling Tennessee coach Brian Callahan’s debut.

“It was a frustrating game,” Williams said. “But the biggest thing is it shows a lot of the personality of this team, I would say — the fighting spirit, the resilience that we had.”

It was frustrating for Tennessee, too. The Titans shut down Chicago’s offense, but gave up 17 points on turnovers.

“It was a winning effort on defense,” Callahan said. “They really did a good job. They made life difficult for those guys, just like we wanted to do. And we just gave them points.”

Williams, the No. 1 overall pick, finished 14 of 29 for 93 yards with a 55.7 passer rating. The former Heisman Trophy winner out of Southern California still became the first quarterback drafted first overall to win his first start since 2002, when David Carr led Houston past Dallas. The last 15 No. 1 picks are a combined 0-14-1 in first starts, beginning with Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer in 2003.

The Bears had just cut it to 17-16 on a Cairo Santos field goal when Stevenson put Chicago ahead midway through the fourth quarter. As DeMarcus Walker was about to tackle him, Will Levis threw the ball in desperation. Stevenson grabbed it and ran away untouched down the sideline for his first career touchdown. A 2-point conversion pass from Williams to D’Andre Swift made it 24-17.

Jaylon Johnson secured the win with just over a minute left in the game when he intercepted a deep pass intended for Tyler Boyd on fourth down at the Tennessee 40-yard line, giving fans who had been booing for much of the afternoon a reason to cheer.

In the Super Bowl era, teams that scored zero touchdowns and trailed by 17 or more points are 3-1, 225. Two of those wins came for Chicago, with the 2006 team beating Arizona. The other was by Kansas City over Carolina in 2016.

“They’re a great team, a team full of dogs,” Stevenson said. “At some point they’re going to help us. It is what it is. We still won. I’m happy for the guys.”

While Williams struggled with his accuracy, Chicago’s vaunted receiving corps was also quiet. 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 finished with 148 yards of offense and scored its only other touchdown on special teams. Daniel Hardy blocked a punt in the third quarter, and Jonathan Owens recovered it and returned it 21 yards for a score that pulled the Bears within 17-10.

Owens’ play drew cheers from the crowd and cheered his wife, star gymnast Simone Biles, who responded with “I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK” in response to a message on X asking how she was feeling. His first touchdown as a Bear after playing for Green Bay last season came about five weeks after he took time away from training camp to watch her win three more Olympic gold medals and a silver in Paris.

“It felt great,” Owens said. “Going back to the sideline, all the guys are excited for you. The defense is excited. The energy of the stadium is just flowing. It didn’t feel like real life.”

Santos cut it to 17-13 early in the fourth period with a 50-yard field goal. The Bears then had a huge opportunity when Darrell Taylor strip-sacked Levis and TJ Edwards recovered the ball at the Tennessee 31-yard line, but had to settle for another field goal that made it a one-point game.

Titans Wrestle

Levis was 19 of 32 for 127 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions to begin his sophomore season. Tony Pollard ran for 82 yards and a TD for Tennessee.

“We just have to get better,” Levis said. “We’re not. That first half was a winning offensive football game. The second half is where you can lose games. Not good across the board.”

Injuries

Callahan said the Titans had no serious injuries. RG Dillon Radunz (ribs) was injured while blocking a pass play early in the third quarter but returned.

Next

Titans: Host the New York Jets on Sunday.

Bears: Visit Houston on Sunday night. ——

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl