Bears' Hard-Fought Win Pays Tribute to Beloved Former Coach

All eyes were on Bears quarterback Caleb Williams as he made his NFL debut, but it was the Bears' special teams and defense that won the day. Those two phases saved a Bears offense that struggled against a stout Tennessee defense. The offensive line was too leaky against the Titans to allow Williams to get in a rhythm, and the ground game didn't get untracked until late.

The Bears were trailing 17-3 with 9:07 left in the third quarter when Jonathan Owens returned a blocked punt for a touchdown. Two Cairo Santos field goals in the fourth quarter cut the Tennessee lead to 17-16.

With the Titans looking to get an insurance score and the Bears trying to get the ball back for a game-winning drive, a ferocious Bears pass rush forced Titans quarterback Will Levis to make an ill-advised throw towards the sideline. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson picked it off and easily ran it back 43 yards for a pick-six. Williams then hit D'Andre Swift out of the backfield for the two-point conversion.

From there, the Bears defense held and Chicago walked away with the victory.

Chicago media personality Jason Goff tweeted that the victory had shades of the 2005 Chicago Bears. For those too young to remember, the Bears of the mid-aughts often struggled to move the football through the air but often won games due to defensive and special teams touchdowns and a solid running game.

While Goff was referencing 2005, think of the following season. The 2006 Chicago Bears made the Super Bowl on the strength of a ferocious defense, and the Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals in which the Bears overcame a large deficit on the strength of defensive scores and a punt-return touchdown from future Pro Football Hall of Fame returner Devin Hester.

Indeed, having Hester as a special teams weapon was another reason that the team made the Super Bowl in a year in which starting quarterback Rex Grossman was so up and down that fans would talk about whether "good Rex" or "bad Rex" showed up for any given game.

Back to the present, the Bears played that old-school type of game against the Titans. Williams struggled in part because the offensive line was ineffective in the pass-blocking game and Williams was often forced to try to create on the run. While the rookie has shown the ability to do that, he couldn't perform many miracles against the Titans. It wasn't just the pass rush: The Titans' secondary also made it hard for Williams to connect with his receivers.

If the Bears needed their offense to win today, well, they'd have lost. Not only did the line struggle to pass-block but it also didn't do well in the running game, as new acquisition Swift didn't get many yards until late. Most of his yardage came as the Bears tried to salt things away in the fourth quarter.

So, it was defense and special teams to the rescue. We're not saying that this will be the pattern throughout the season -- Williams will likely improve as he learns, and the offensive line will hopefully gel. We'd also be remiss if we didn't point out that the Titans have a good defense and a very smart and experienced defensive coordinator in Dennard Wilson. It's unlikely every Bears game will play out this way, especially if Williams lives up to his potential and if skill-position players like Swift, D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, and Cole Kmet get going.

Still, for at least one day, the Bears looked like a blast from the not-too-distant past.

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