Bears vs. Titans: 4 takeaways from Chicago’s Week 1 victory

After Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season, the Chicago Bears have a share of the NFC North lead at 1-0, tied with the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions, the Green Bay Packers are alone in last place at 0-1.

Still, Chicago’s Week 1 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans wasn’t exactly what Bears fans hoped for. In fact, it was reminiscent of the 2006 Bears, who often needed the defense to score to win.

But an ugly win is better than an ugly loss. Here are four takeaways from Week 1.

Celebrate the Bears’ victory, don’t hit panic button

Last season, the Chicago Bears lost their season opener to the Green Bay Packers in a game in which all three phases seemed unprepared. The offense couldn’t score, the defense couldn’t stop the Packers, and special teams (punting in particular) didn’t help. Many Bears fans immediately wrote off the season as a lost cause.

That should not be the case in 2024. Despite a forgettable debut from the much-hyped Caleb Williams, the Bears fought for a gritty comeback win. The defense pitched a shutout in the second half and grabbed three turnovers. Rookie punter Tory Taylor dropped every punt inside the ten-yard line. The offense didn’t turn the ball over once.

The Bears won a game they had no business winning. They clawed back from a 17-0 deficit. That should be an exciting sign for Bears fans and proof that the roster as a whole is built to win.

Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

Yes, Caleb Williams struggled, and that’s okay.

Obviously, we all wanted Williams to stuff the stat sheet in his NFL debut, but that didn’t happen. The Titans’ defensive line had him under duress the entire game, and a couple of key drops didn’t help him. Still, he wasn’t great. And that’s okay! The positives were there: he didn’t look overwhelmed or panicked, and he didn’t turn the ball over. Look at some of the other QB performances this week, and you’ll see much more cause for alarm than Bears fans should have in Williams.

This debut has all the makings of a fluke game. The offensive game plan was knocked off course by a dominant duo of defensive tackles, yet Williams still took care of the football. Now that he’s had his “welcome to the NFL” moment, he can build on this and return to playing his game.

The Velus Jones experiment has to end.

I genuinely don’t understand what GM Ryan Poles is doing with Velus Jones. All offseason we were told that he was going to be a difference maker on kickoff returns under these new rules. Well, he made a difference on Sunday when he fumbled his first attempt and allowed the Titans to recover.

He has proven time and time again that he cannot be trusted on the field. Poles has to admit that he made a mistake drafting Jones in the third round of the 2022 NFL draft and cut bait. All he’s doing now is taking up a roster spot that could be filled to much better value by a guy like Adrian Colbert or Collin Johnson.

The Bears are 1-0.

That’s it. That’s the takeaway. Wins matter in this league more than any stat, so enjoy this victory and look forward to seeing the Bears next week on Sunday Night Football against the Houston Texans.