4 Big Stats from the Chicago Bears Victory Over the Tennessee Titans

The Chicago Bears narrowly escaped Soldier Field with a win against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, but a seemingly mundane final score of 24-17 does not accurately represent the massive swings, ups and downs, and loose balls that ultimately went the Bears' way. To look at how the Bears started off the season 1-0, let's take a look at four big statistics that tell the story of the team's home opener:

55.7

Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams finished his NFL debut with a win, but this week's national conversations will likely focus more on his 55.7 quarterback rating and all that came with it. While this figure is certainly lower than many fans and analysts would have predicted going into the game, there were still a lot of positives on Sunday for the young quarterback to build upon.

Notably, Williams should be proud that he was able to take care of the ball throughout the game. With no turnovers on the stat sheet, Williams' game was essentially devoid of turnover-worthy throws, although multiple passes were tipped at the line of scrimmage when throwing down the middle of the field. Additionally, Williams - who went scoreless in his first outing - was nearly able to connect with Keenan Allen in the endzone to end the second quarter. While Allen was uncharacteristically unable to finish the play, Williams showed his ability to deliver a catchable pass in the endzone.

Williams' biggest concern from Sunday was not his completion percentage (48%) or his inability to score, but rather a 19-yard sack that the quarterback took in the second quarter. Williams has a rare ability to extend plays and navigate behind the line of scrimmage, but NFL football is too much faster than college, and the rookie quarterback falsely believed that he could extend the play further than he could. If Williams can find his rhythm and timing from the pocket, he should have more comfort finding targets downfield. All in all, there is no reason to push the panic button at the quarterback position.

15

Defensively, the Chicago Bears' MVP of the game may have been T.J. Edwards, who finished the contest with an impressive 15 total tackles, two of which were for a loss, as well as a fumble recovery. Edwards was simply all over the field in run defense and was a pass-rush factor as the Titans' offensive line lost starters throughout the game.

Edwards finished the 2023 campaign, his first with the Bears, with 155 combined tackles. Last year, that figure was strong enough for seventh across the league - just three shy of former Bears linebacker Roquan Smith - but Edwards could be in line for an even more statistically productive season in 2024.

2

Newcomer Darrell Taylor finished his first game as a Chicago Bear with a game-high 2 sacks. Coming over from the Seattle Seahawks after the Bears' final preseason game, Taylor recorded just 5.5 sacks a season ago but is now already in a position to shatter his previous single-season record of 9.5 (2022).

Notably, Taylor's second sack of the game resulted in a fumble by Titans' quarterback Will Levis, which ultimately set the Bears' offense up in field goal range to eventually cut the away team's lead to a single point.

If Taylor can continue to turn heads amongst the coaching staff, one of the newest Bears players may end up being a starter or high-tier rotational player, providing a significant pass rush factor opposite of Pro Bowler Montez Sweat. Whatever role he ends up filling throughout the remainder of the regular season, it is hard to envision a scenario where the Bears win against the Titans without the heroics of the recently acquired edge rusher.

4

After a quiet start to the game, the Bears' defense and special teams combined for 4 turnovers in the second half, including a punt block that Jonathan Owens returned for a 21-yard touchdown and a 43-yard pick-six by Tyrique Stevenson that gave the team their first lead of the game.

A pillar in Matt Eberflus's "H.I.T.S." principle, winning the turnover battle is an essential part of any football game and ultimately paved the path for the Bears to earn a win despite a somewhat unforeseen offensive performance. Including both returns, the Bears were able to capitalize on getting the ball back, finishing the contest with 17 points off turnovers.

The final turnover, caused by star cornerback Jaylon Johnson, was the proverbial nail-in-the-coffin for the Titans' squad, whose halftime momentum was completely halted by a failure to protect the football.