Tyrique Stevenson couldn’t believe his eyes. Like most of the 59,403 fans inside Soldier Field and countless others on the edges of their living room couches around Chicago, Stevenson’s mind started racing when the football started fluttering his way midway through the fourth quarter Sunday.
The second-year Bears cornerback can’t share the exact thought bouncing around inside his head. But it’s safe to assume it fell somewhere between “Did he really?” and “No freaking way!”
“I was definitely surprised,” Stevenson said. “I’m still surprised now.”
Fewer than 8 minutes remained in the season opener and the Bears were trying to finish their climb out of a 17-0 hole. The first half had been an absolute mess. The Bears offense seemed totally out of sorts. A come-from-behind win still seemed reachable but far from probable.
Yet there, in that moment, Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis offered an unmistakable gift, trying to get away with an incomplete pass toward the sideline rather than take a third-down sack from Bears defensive end DeMarcus Walker.
With Walker wrapped around his waist, Levis flung the ball toward the Titans’ sideline.
Like most of the 59,403 fans inside Soldier Field and countless others on the edges of their living room couches, Stevenson seemed temporarily frozen as the ball arrived. For a beat, it almost seemed like he was so shocked Levis’ pass had wound up in his hands that he wasn’t going to run.
Did he really? No freaking way!
“It happened so slow,” Stevenson said. “When he flipped it, I was like, ‘Ya know what? Let me go to the crib with this.’”
Week 1 photos: Chicago Bears vs. Tennessee Titans at Soldier Field
So then he was off, on a joyful 43-yard sprint toward Soldier Field’s north end zone, the defensive touchdown that turned a 17-16 deficit into a remarkable 24-17 Bears victory.
That was the exclamation point on a win that has the potential to be tone-setting for a memorable season. Down 17 points late in the first half, the Bears somehow rallied to win without scoring an offensive touchdown and without totaling even 150 yards from scrimmage.
“Good teams find a way,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “It’s one of those things where you’re never going to get it all back in one play. So you have to keep doing your job, doing what you’re told and those big plays will come.”
Dare we say it? These Bears may indeed be exactly who we thought they were. And that is to say, they are a gritty and well-rounded team fully capable of supporting their green rookie quarterback whose struggles, at times, will be pronounced.
At the very least, the Bears were a team Sunday that showed a winning combination of resilience, belief and timely playmaking — and after a sloppy and mistake-filled first half, the Titans let ’em off the hook.
“This was about poise and confidence,” Walker said. “We didn’t panic. You didn’t hear any of our guys having a hoo-ah speech. We worked on our adjustments and just continued working.”
Sunday was supposed to signify a new era in Bears quarterback history with Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick in April’s draft, making his first career start. Instead, it morphed into an old-school Bears win, one catalyzed by defensive tenacity and special teams heroics.
Bears block the punt and Jonathan Owens scoops it up for six!
: #TENvsCHI on FOX
: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/vJFzPGQ3se
— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2024
On the latter front, credit defensive end Daniel Hardy and safety Jonathan Owens for truly igniting Sunday’s rally. Early in the third quarter, Hardy knifed past Titans offensive lineman Daniel Brunskill to block Ryan Stonehouse’s punt. And Owens was there to scoop the bouncing football for the Bears’ first regular-season touchdown of 2024 — a 21-yard blocked punt return.
“In that moment, we were all talking about responding,” Hardy said. “We had to make a play. And we did it on special teams. Together. Our mentality is to attack, attack, attack.”
Added Owens: “I was rushing off the edge and I actually heard the block without seeing it. Then I saw the ball bouncing. It was right there and it was an instantaneous reaction.”
Without question, that sequence detonated six months of pent-up excitement inside Soldier Field and awakened the Bears bench.
“It didn’t even feel like real life for a second,” Owens said.
“Even without the fans (reaction), on the sideline it was amazing,” Hardy said. “Just seeing our teammates respond and all the energy that everybody had. It’s a fantastic feeling when you feel that energy flowing with everybody on the sideline.”
Man, those feel-good vibes were everywhere inside the home locker room Sunday, after a performance from the Bears that was far-from-pretty but oh-so-satisfying. This was a hungry team willing itself to a fantastic finish, no matter how unconventional their path had to be.
Three defensive takeaways and a second-half shutout.
Hardy’s blocked punt and Owens’ TD.
A 67-yard DeAndre Carter kickoff return that helped set up the first of three Cairo Santos field goals.
“This is one hell of a team,” Stevenson said. “A team full of dogs.”
There will be plenty of time in the days ahead to microanalyze Williams’ clunky debut, an effort in which the rookie completed only 14 of 29 passes for 93 yards. There will be ample opportunity to emphasize how the Bears offense started three possessions inside Titans territory yet somehow only netted 32 yards on those drives while settling for six points.
There will be openings to highlight some of Sunday’s ugliest and most costly mistakes. Like Velus Jones Jr.’s clumsy drop-and-kick fumble on a first-quarter kickoff return. Or Montez Sweat’s third-and-5 offsides infraction that helped extend the Titans’ second touchdown drive, leaving the Bears in that deflating 17-0 hole late in the second quarter. Or Keenan Allen’s drop at the goal line on the final possession before halftime.
Cleaner performances will be needed. And soon.
Yet to hear coach Matt Eberflus and his players tell it, the Bears never felt rattled.
“They looked each other in the eye and leaned in and leaned on each other and said: ‘We’ve got this,’” Eberflus said. “That’s a different attitude and a different culture that we’ve developed here over the last couple of years.”
Like most of the 59,403 fans leaving Soldier Field and countless bouncing off their couches to celebrate a near-perfect fall afternoon, the Bears embraced the Week 1 win without apologizing and rolled into their Sunday evening with a jolt of positive energy.
Williams, for one, had his first victory as an NFL quarterback, even if his contributions to it were minimal.
“I sat down and enjoyed the moment,” he said, “just watching all the guys celebrate while understanding I need to be better. And I will be better.”
Stevenson had his first pick six at any level of football — and the gleeful surprise that came with it.
“I still have butterflies from that,” he said.
The Bears had the 1-0 start they felt determined to grab and verification of the winning DNA they feel they’ve been building.
“Culture change,” Owens said with a smile. “We really wanted to come in and set the tone for our season early. This is a great feeling and a major morale boost.”