3 lessons we learned from the Bears in Week 1: A bargain contract, a change in culture and patience on offense

It wasn't pretty, but the Chicago Bears accomplished what they set out to do in Week 1 — they got a win over the Titans to start the season 1-0.

There were many reasons to be positive about the Bears' performance on Sunday, and more than a few areas that obviously need some work. There's no time to waste though, as the Super Bowl hopeful Texans are waiting to host the Bears in a primetime tilt that promises to be one of the toughest tests of the season. We've gone into who the winners and losers from the 24-17 come-from-behind win were, but what lessons did we learn about this team that could shed some light on what to expect going forward? Let's get into it.

Lesson No. 1: Jaylon Johnson was worth every penny

Can you believe that there was a time when some people didn't know if Jaylon Johnson was worth a long-term contract extension? Rarely has a contract ever aged this well, this fast.

The Bears have no shortage of talent in their secondary. Tyrique Stevenson capped off the comeback with his pick-six of Will Levis, but he wasn't alone in holding the Titans quarterback to just 127 yards passing on only four yards per attempt. The Bears locked up the Titans receivers, with only Calvin Ridley having even a moderately successful day with 50 yards on three catches.

That all begins and ends with Johnson, who demonstrated in no uncertain terms why he was well worth the four-year, $76 million extension he received this offseason. Five cornerbacks around the league have inked deals with a higher AAV since Johnson signed on the dotted line in March, but there's no one that Matt Eberflus would rather have as the cornerstone of his secondary.

Opposing quarterbacks would have been better off throwing the ball out of bounds than targeting Johnson last year, and it seems that he's picked up right where he left off. He allowed only one reception for a loss of two yards against the Titans, and on the one play that he got beat deep, he recovered and nearly picked the ball off, forcing an incompletion. It's no surprise that Pro Football Focus named Johnson as its highest-graded corner of the weekend, and he capped his incredible day with an interception to seal the win.

Johnson and the Bears will face much more potent passing offenses than Tennessee's throughout this season, but it shouldn't be discounted just how effective Johnson was in clamping down Ridley, DeAndre Hopkins, et al., especially with how much the Bears struggled to move the ball on offense themselves. The Bears don't win this game without playing outstanding defense, and they don't play outstanding defense without Jaylon Johnson.

The Texans are much more aggressive in pushing the ball down the field than the Titans, so Johnson's continued excellence will be even more paramount this week. If the Bears do find a way to move to 2-0, he figures to be a big reason why.

Lesson No. 2: This team acts like it expects to win

There's a lot of talk in the NFL about team culture. Every new head coaching hire makes sure to talk about the importance of building a winning culture, to the point that it's become little more than a cliche at this point. Compare the Bears right now to what the team looked like at this point last year, though, and it's clear that the culture has drastically shifted.

Chicago lost its opening game in humbling fashion to the hated Green Bay Packers last year. It seems impossible to believe now, especially given that the Bears were fresh off having the worst record in the league, but Matt Eberflus' bunch was actually favored in that game. The Packers had handed the car keys to the unproven Jordan Love after shipping Aaron Rodgers to the Jets, and the Bears had a new number-one receiver in DJ Moore.

It turns out that Rodgers' ownership papers of the Bears did transfer, as Love and the Packers once again treated Soldier Field like their home away from home. The 38-20 final score wasn't just a one-game result, it was emblematic of the wide gulf that still existed between these two franchises, a chasm that transcended just one Hall of Fame quarterback.

The Bears did eventually turn things around after the in-season trade for Montez Sweat, but it was too little, too late to make a serious playoff push. Still, it laid the groundwork for what we saw on Sunday.

The Bears learned how to win in the second half of last year, and after Ryan Poles greatly enhanced the roster even further through the draft and free agency, expectations for this season were through the roof. Unlike last year, though, the optimism of the Bears fanbase is justified, and you can see it on the field.

The Bears were flat out of the gate, failing to capitalize on some great early field position. Then the defense gave up a long drive, and Velus Jones muffed the ensuing kickoff. An offseason filled with promise had turned to a nightmare reality, and when the Bears fell behind 17-0, boos could be heard from fans that expected so much more.

A funny thing happened after that, though. This team didn't roll over and die. Every man on the roster kept fighting, and they did all the little things to erase the deficit. Daniel Hardy blocked a punt and Jonathan Owens took it to the house. New Titans running back Tony Pollard, who'd gotten loose in the first half, was completely shut down by the defensive line in the second half. The secondary started making plays.

These were the actions of a team that believes it can and should win against an inferior opponent. Is there a long way to go to become true contenders in a conference that has the 49ers, Lions, Cowboys, Eagles, Bucs and Packers to contend with? Absolutely. But the Bears are no longer content to be mediocre, and they showed it on the field in Week 1.

Lesson No. 3: Caleb Williams and the offense are going to need some time to figure it out

You don't have to be Ferris Bueller to see that the offense took a day off against the Titans. Caleb Williams had a rough first day on the job after being hyped as the savior of the franchise. Keenan Allen dropped a touchdown. The offensive line had its lunch handed to it by Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat. Even on a day that resulted in a win, there were few if any positives to be taken from the Bears' offensive (in more ways than one) performance.

It's clear that the offense, which on paper looks extremely formidable, is a work in progress. We hate to paraphrase Aaron Rodgers, but Bears fans will need to exercise P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E.

Baseball is an individual sport masquerading as a team game. When the Yankees trade for Juan Soto, Aaron Boone can plug him into his lineup and know with certainty that his offense will be better than it was before. Football doesn't work that way. Every part has to work in harmony to really sing, and to do that requires time. Keenan Allen has proven that he's a great receiver throughout his career, but he's never played a home game outside of sunny California. Shane Waldron did wonders with the Seahawks offense, but he has different players with different skill sets in Chicago. Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze dominated in college, but things move faster in the pros. Unfortunately for Odunze, he's going to miss some time with a sprained MCL, further delaying his development.

This offense has the talent to score a lot of points, but expecting a group with so many new pieces to be firing on all cylinders right away is unrealistic. It's a long season, and thankfully the Bears seem to have the defense and special teams to pull out some wins until the offense figures things out. Let's all take a deep breath and give Caleb and the boys some time.