The Chicago Bears escaped their Week 1 game with a comeback victory over the Tennessee Titans, and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams wiped the sweat off of his brow in relief as he left the field at the conclusion of the 24-17 victory. While there is quite a bit of concern about the Bears offense, the team's long-suffering fans celebrated the win. One of those fans is Chicago Sky basketball star Angel Reese, who offered her congratulations to Williams with a celebratory message on X.
Both Williams and Reese are rookies for two of Chicago's sports teams, and there are high hopes that both players will become stars in the Windy City. Reese's season with the Sky came to a halt last week because of a wrist injury, but she clearly is a fan of Williams and the Bears.
Williams struggled quite a bit in his opening game, as he completed 14 of 29 passes for just 93 yards. He did not throw a touchdown pass and while he did not have an interception, the Titans batted down several of his passes.
The Bears fell behind 17-0 in the game, but they mounted a significant comeback in the second half. Special teams produced one touchdown on a blocked punt that defensive back Jonathan Owens returned for a touchdown. The other score came midway through the fourth quarter when Tyrique Stevenson intercepted a desperate attempt by Tennessee quarterback Will Levis to throw the ball towards the sidelines.
Stevenson picked off the football on a dead run and raced 43 yards into the end zone that gave the Bears the lead. Williams followed with a two-point conversion pass to D'Andre Swift that gave the Bears their seven-point margin of victory.
Williams recognizes that Bears offense has to improve
The Bears saw their defense improve significantly during the 2023 season. While they had faltered on offense with Justin Fields at quarterback, the belief around the team this year is that the offense will be much improved in 2024.
In addition to Williams at quarterback, the Bears added veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen and also drafted rookie Rome Odunze. Since they already had star wideout D.J. Moore, the receiving crew appears fairly formidable.
However, in their first game together, the trio of receivers combined for 76 receiving yards.
“It was a frustrating game,” Williams said in his postgame remarks, per the Associated Press. “But the most important thing is that it shows a bunch of the personality of this team, I would say — the fight, the resiliency that we had.”
The Bears overcame an early 17-0 deficit and found a way to win their season opener. They got the victory even though their rookie quarterback struggled throughout the game.
The next test will come in Week 2 when the Bears travel to Houston to take on the Texans and second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud. Williams needs to perform better and that game would be a great place to start.
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