CHICAGO — With the game ball in his left arm, quarterback Caleb Williams threw up his signature Bear claw with his right hand in response to the applause he received from fans as he exited the tunnel at Soldier Field.

In Chicago’s 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans, Williams became the first quarterback selected with the first pick in the draft and made his first career start since David Carr in 2002. However, his performance left the quarterback frustrated.

Williams completed 14 of 29 passes for 93 yards, threw no touchdowns or interceptions, fumbled once and was sacked twice. The rookie quarterback connected on 31 percent of his throws wide and averaged 3.2 yards per pass attempt.

“We want to be the most efficient team, including myself,” Williams said. “I didn’t perform the way I wanted to. I missed a few passes that I normally don’t miss, and all those other things.

“Of course it’s great to get this first win. We’re all excited. Went to the locker room, celebrated. I sat down, enjoyed the moment, just watching all the guys celebrating and understanding that I have to get better, I will get better.”

The Bears nearly came out on top in the first half before Cairo Santos fired a 24-yard field goal to give Chicago its first points of the 2024 season. Santos added two more field goals, from 50 and 48 yards respectively, after the Bears’ punt coverage unit broke the game open.

According to ESPN Analytics, the Bears had a 14% chance of beating the Titans before defensive end Daniel Hardy blocked a Tennessee punt with 3:19 left in the third quarter. Safety Jonathan Owens grabbed the ball and ran 21 yards for a touchdown to cut the Titans’ lead to 17-10.

“I didn’t know who blocked it,” Owens said. “I heard it and I saw the ball bounce. There were guys around and I just took off, instant reaction. It was just crazy. The ball was there, I just picked it up and scooped it up. I was just thinking, take off and run full speed. I got in the end zone and it didn’t feel like real life for a second. So I kind of look back and think, ‘Did I just score?'”

Chicago’s defense, which ranked No. 1 against the run in 2023 (86.4 yards allowed per game), struggled to contain Tennessee’s rushing attack in the first half. The Titans generated 115 yards on 16 carries through the first two quarters before the Bears made their move after halftime (25 yards on 10 rushes in the second half, 0.7 yards allowed on first contact).

One drive after the Bears committed a strip-sack fumble, giving Chicago’s offense the ball back and Santos his third field goal to cut Tennessee’s lead to 17-16, the Bears’ defense also broke through.

With a third-and-6 from Tennessee’s 45-yard line, Bears coach Matt Eberflus called a blitz that found Titans quarterback Will Levis. After being hit, Levis threw the ball toward the sideline.

But instead of the ball going out of bounds, Chicago cornerback Tyrique Stevenson made a 43-yard pick-six that gave the Bears their first lead of the day. Williams and the offense would add their first points on the ensuing 2-point conversion when the rookie connected with running back D’Andre Swift to take a 24-17 lead.

“We always want to be the spark of the team,” Stevenson said of the Bears’ defense. “We know Caleb was going to have his ups and downs when he came in. This might not have been the game he wanted, but we’re just his kickstand. We’ve got him and he’s got us.”

The Bears became the first team in NFL history to win a game while trailing by at least 17 points and allowing fewer than 150 total yards. Williams struggled in several areas in his NFL debut, going 0-of-6 under pressure, 2-of-8 for 19 yards against the blitz and 4-of-13 for 40 yards on throws of more than 5 air yards.

“They didn’t do anything spectacular,” Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said. “What we had to do was just get the ball. I didn’t see anything spectacular. They didn’t do anything s— on offense, so I’m excited about what we had on defense.”

After the game, Williams compared his frustrations to USC’s 48-20 loss to Notre Dame in 2023. By leaning on the Bears’ defense and special teams, they were able to get off to a 1-0 start and build the kind of momentum that the quarterback believes will lead to similar results in future games.

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

“And we didn’t embarrass anybody. Defense, offense, all that other stuff. It shows the personality, how much everybody believes in ourselves, the Chicago Bears, defense believes in offense, offense believes in defense, special teams and so on.”