Chicago Bears winners and losers from Week 1 victory over Titans: Ugly but effective

New Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams coined a prophetic new phrase during training camp that teammates and fans immediately rallied around. "Through thick and thin, Bears win," the No. 1 overall pick said, and while Sunday's game against the Titans certainly had its share of lean moments, in the end, the Bears were able to overcome a 17-point deficit to pull out a hard-fought victory.

There's a saying in baseball that "it's a line drive in the box score," which means that even the softest-hit blooper looks the same on paper as a frozen rope through the middle. The Bears hope the passage of time is similarly kind to them because anyone who dwells on the moment-to-moment details of this game won't feel as good about the team as someone who simply looks at the win column and sees the Bears at 1-0.

Make no mistake about it, this was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless. There are plenty of things the Bears need to work on before traveling to Houston for a Sunday night showdown against the 1-0 Texans, but for now, Bears fans can enjoy starting the season on the right foot, even if it wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as we all would have liked.

Let's examine some winners and losers from a wild Sunday at Soldier Field, beginning with one position group that fully performed up to expectations.

Bears Week 1 winner: The secondary

After welcoming back Jaylon Johnson on a four-year extension, the Bears entered this season with the most talented defensive backfield in the NFL. In addition to Johnson, who made Second Team All-Pro last year, there's Tyrique Stevenson, fresh off a sensational rookie year, Kyler Gordon, the third-year slot corner who is so acrobatic he earned the nickname "Spider-man" from head coach Matt Eberflus, Jaquan Brisker, one of the best young safeties in the league, and Terell Smith, a fifth-round pick from a year ago that would be earning starter's reps on most teams.

There are much more dangerous quarterbacks to come on Chicago's schedule than Titans starter Will Levis, but the Bears secondary did everything right in making sure that the second-year quarterback looked every bit as inexperienced as his résumé would suggest. New free agent signee Calvin Ridley was the only Titan with more than 18 yards receiving, but even he caught only three of seven balls thrown his way for a pedestrian 50 yards.

DeAndre Hopkins had only one catch for eight yards, and other than one 22-yarder to Ridley and a 17-yard touchdown to tight end Chig Okonkwo that was nearly intercepted, Levis didn't complete another pass for more than 11 yards all day. The Bears made him pay for his mistakes, such as an ill-advised backhanded pass attempt to avoid a sack that Stevenson grabbed on the sideline and took 43 yards to the house for the go-ahead score, and a desperation ball that he threw up for grabs on the game's final possession that Johnson came down with to ice the game.

Levis finished the day just 19-32 for 127 yards, one touchdown and two picks, and of the three third downs he converted all day, just one was with his arm. CJ Stroud, Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell are waiting to provide a sterner test in Week 2, but this secondary can compete with anyone.

Bears Week 1 loser: Velus Jones Jr.

Everyone loves a feel-good story, but the NFL is a results-oriented business. Velus Jones Jr. had a star-making turn in Hard Knocks as fans rallied around the ferret-loving speedster's successful quest to make the roster as a running back and return man. All that goodwill went up in smoke though when he booted a kickoff return right into the waiting arms of a Titans player near the end of the first quarter.

The world will never know if Jones would have made the roster without rookie Ian Wheeler tearing his ACL in the preseason finale against the Chiefs. Like Jones, Wheeler was having a good camp, and at the very least was making it a difficult roster decision for Ryan Poles and the coaching staff. Fans were conflicted too, with both players showing game-breaking speed and winning personalities.

Wheeler's heartbreaking injury meant that Jones won the battle by default, but his hold on a roster spot is only going to be as strong as his hold on the football, especially after his first two seasons were marked by a chronic case of butterfingers. Bears fans that gave Jones a second chance were unanimous in their wish to launch him into Lake Michigan following his muffed kickoff, and though it was encouraging that the coaching staff gave him another opportunity on offense to get his confidence up (an eight-yard reception that showed off some of his speed), it's clear that he's now on the shortest of leashes going forward.

Jones' blunder was the one blemish on what was otherwise a banner day for special teams. Jonathan Owens returned Daniel Hardy's blocked punt for a touchdown to give the Bears their first sign of life. De'Andre Carter returned a kickoff 67 yards to set up one of Cairo Santos' three field goals. Tory Taylor averaged 45 yards per punt, which included a 60-yard boomer and three inside the 20.

This Bears team has playoff aspirations, and it would be a disservice to the other 52 players on the roster to let those hopes be derailed by Jones' inability to hang on to the football. He's not just on thin ice, it's almost totally melted.

Bears Week 1 winner: Ryan Poles

It was a rough debut for Ryan Poles' top two picks, Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. Williams struggled all day against a relentless Titans defensive front, and Odunze's only catch of the day came off a fluke ball that flew up into the air, which he promptly fumbled.

There will be better days ahead for the Bears' talented first-round picks, but the reason Poles deserves to be in the winner's column this week is for his late-August trade for Seahawks pass-rusher Darrell Taylor.

Poles acquired Taylor for just a sixth-round pick, and even though Taylor's only been on the team for about two weeks, he made a huge impact in Week 1 with two sacks and eight tackles. Gervon Dexter Sr., who Poles drafted in 2023, also brought Levis down once and delivered a big hit on another play, while Montez Sweat, who Poles traded for and signed to an extension midseason last year, had his typical disruptive day, even if he didn't get a sack of his own.

Hard Knocks viewers saw that Poles was unwilling to trade for Patriots star Matthew Judon without having an extension in place, which resulted in the Falcons landing him instead. The 11th-hour, low-cost pivot to Taylor already looks like a genius move. It's only one week, but the Bears pass rush doesn't appear to be the liability that some pundits expected. Poles deserves credit.

Bears Week 1 loser: The offensive line

We could honestly put the entire offense, save for DJ Moore, in the loser's category. Keenan Allen had a critical drop on third down, Cole Kmet was a no-show, and we've already briefly touched on the uninspiring debuts of Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. The offensive line deserves special mention, though, because it was dominated all day by Jeffery Simmons and the Titans D-line.

Simmons talked a lot of trash leading up to the game, and even despite the loss, he was still talking afterward, saying, "I didn't see nothing spectacular. They didn't do **** on offense." The Bears did get the last laugh by getting the win, but Simmons is right. He and his defensive teammates had their way in the trenches.

The Bears O-line was unable to clear space for the running game. New addition D'Andre Swift finished with 10 carries for only 30 yards, but it's hard to blame him because there was nowhere to run all day. Most of his production came on one 20-yard carry which was notable not for the hole that his line cleared for him, but for the way in which he created his own space by leaping over safety Quandre Diggs. Other than that, Swift and the rest of the Bears running game was bottled up by Simmons and massive rookie T'Vondre Sweat.

The line was also unable to give Caleb Williams much time to throw. The first of two sacks the line allowed on the day was a 19-yard drive-killer that saw center Coleman Shelton get torched immediately by defensive tackle Keondre Coburn, ultimately resulting in a Sebastian Joseph-Day takedown of Williams to push the Bears out of field goal range.

Even when Williams wasn't under pressure, he had defenders in his face, resulting in several passes being batted at the line. If the line can't improve between now and this coming Sunday, Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. are going to make life miserable for the Bears offense again.

Bears Week 1 winner: Bears football

Bears fans have mixed feelings over "Bears football." We all know what that means — inept offense and stifling defense. If it seems that the Bears have been playing Bears football for decades, it's because they have, but this year was supposed to be different.

The arrival of Caleb Williams, Keenan Allen, D'Andre Swift and Rome Odunze was meant to signal a new era for a franchise that has historically had immense difficulty scoring points, but at least in Week 1, that wasn't the case. This resulted in a win that in a lot of ways managed to outdo the Denny Green, "They are who we thought they were" game (which was somehow 18 years ago! Guess I'll go cry into my leather helmet) as the Bears-iest of all victories, as ESPN reporter Turron Davenport pointed out after the game:

When Bears football works, it's a sight to behold. Think of Dick Butkus sending opposing ball carriers to the emergency room, Mike Singletary flying around like a heat-seeking missile, and Peanut Tillman ripping and punching the ball away from Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson. At its best, Bears football is the city of Chicago's chief export, even if it is the very epitome of winning ugly.

Bears fans don't want to give up having a fear-inducing defense, and luckily, it seems that they don't have to. Matt Eberflus' defensive unit seems ready to build on an inspiring second half from last year, but is it too much to ask for an offense that can carry its weight just a little bit? One day, we'll hopefully all look back on Week 1 as a fluky performance from what turned out to be the best offense in Bears history. For at least one week, though, Bears football again carried the day.

Bears Week 2 loser: Caleb Williams

One week does not a bust make, so even though Caleb Williams struggled mightily in his pro debut, it'll take a lot more than that to get Bears fans to jump off the bandwagon, especially in the afterglow of a season-opening victory.

It must be pointed out, though, that Williams had a tough first day at the office, and he reinforced a few of the things that had scouts worried before he was taken with the No. 1 pick.

Williams took two sacks on the day, both of which could have been preventable if he'd thrown the ball away. His mechanics weren't great, which resulted in some inaccurate passes thrown low or behind his receivers. He had a particulary tough time on third down, as he and the Bears offense only converted two of 13 tries. He wasn't intercepted on the day, but the Titans got their hands on a lot of his passes.

When it was all said and done, Williams was 14-29 for only 93 yards and a grisly 22.2 QBR, a statline that just isn't going to get it done against most teams. It certainly won't against the Texans next week, not with their explosive, field-stretching offense.

Being anointed as the chosen one for a franchise that has never had a star quarterback is as pressure-packed as it gets. Williams didn't rise to the challenge in Week 1, but luckily for him, the defense and special teams gave him a mulligan. We'll learn a lot more about what he's made of by how he bounces back in Week 2.