CHICAGO — For a half Sunday the Titans silenced the 59,000 fans here at Soldier Field hyped up about Caleb Williams’ debut. It was nearly one-way traffic as they built a 17-3 lead, and they were seemingly in complete control.
But all of a sudden the script flipped. The offense stalled and the Bears took advantage of a series of catastrophic mistakes, scoring all 21 of the game’s second half points to steal a 24-17 week one win.
Momentum shifted on the Titans first possession of the second half when Ryan Stonehouse’s punt was blocked and scooped up by Simone Biles' husband Jonathan Owens who scampered to the endzone for a touchdown, giving the Bears and the home crowd some life.
It was a continuation of the special teams problems that plagued the end of the Mike Vrabel era.
The Bears took advantage of new coordinator Colt Anderson's unit for their first 10 points of the afternoon with Deandre Carter's 66-yard kickoff return just before halftime set up a field goal.
But it was the inability of Brian Callahan's offense to sustain anything in the second half that was the difference. Second-year quarterback Will Levis led the Titans to points on three straight possessions late in the first half, but they managed just four first downs after halftime.
And the turnovers were disastrous.
Darrell Taylor's strip sack of Levis set up a fourth quarter field goal.
And Levis, who avoided any costly mistakes under pressure in the first half, inexplicably tried to flip a ball backhanded out of bounds to avoid a third down sack, only for Tyrique Stevenson to snag it and race 43 yards for a pick six that proved to be the difference in the game.
The Bears scored 18 of their 24 points directly off the Titans' second half blunders.
Throw in the first half kickoff return of Carter that led to another field goal and the Titans lost a game in which their defense really only allowed three points on 148 total yards, while holding Williams to an anemic 93 yards passing in his debut.
Yet the rookie from USC becomes the first quarterback taken No. 1 overall to win his rookie debut since David Carr in 2002, snapping a streak of 15 games without a thanks to the play of his special teams and defense.
And thanks to the Titans' meltdown. Callahan said after the game he couldn't imagine this team losing a game like that.
But for Titans fans the turnovers, penalties and special teams disasters are no longer shocking.
It's on Callahan and his staff to clean that up.
Callahan must find a way to get his offense to run the ball more consistently and avoid the penalties and negative plays that kept this offense behind schedule Sunday just like the positions the Titans' offenses of the last couple seasons too often found themselves in.
The Titans found no opportunity against the Bears to get in a rhythm and distribute the ball to their new playmakers at wide receiver with Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd and DeAndre Hopkins combining for just seven catches.
Callahan also needs to continue to refine Levis's decision-making and, at times, his desire to try to do too much.
The talent is there, and no one will question Levis's desire, but NFL quarterbacks can not turn the ball over three times or hand their opponents points.
Williams was far from the future Hall of Famer hype that people in Chicago and around the NFL have tagged him with to begin his career, but he avoided the tragic mistakes that once again cost Levis in the Titans and was able to win his first game.
The Titans will be competitive with the defense they showed Sunday, but they can't beat their opponent and themselves.
Will Sunday's meltdown be a valuable lesson for a long season still to come or foreshadowing of what's to come?
That's on the coach, the quarterback and everyone in that locker room to figure out after leaving a win that was there for the taking behind in Chicago.
