Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams coined a prophetic new line during training camp that teammates and fans alike immediately got behind. “Through thick and thin, the Bears win,” the No. 1 overall pick said, and while Sunday’s game against the Titans certainly had its share of lean moments, the Bears ultimately overcame 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,” meaning that even the mildest blooper looks the same on paper as a frozen rope down the middle. The Bears will hope that time is kind to them as well, because anyone who dwells on the moment-to-moment details of this game isn’t going to feel as good about the team as someone who only looks at the win column and sees the Bears up 1-0.

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

Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from a wild Sunday at Soldier Field, starting with one position group that lived up to expectations.

After returning Jaylon Johnson to a four-year extension, the Bears enter this season with the most talented defensive backfield in the NFL. In addition to Johnson, who was named Second Team All-Pro last year, there’s Tyrique Stevenson, coming off a sensational rookie year; Kyler Gordon, the third-year slot corner so acrobatic he’s been nicknamed “Spider-Man” by head coach Matt Eberflus; Jaquan Brisker, one of the league’s best young safeties; and Terell Smith, a fifth-round pick a year ago who would earn a starting job on most teams.

There are far more dangerous quarterbacks on Chicago’s roster than Titans starter Will Levis, but the Bears secondary did everything right to make their second-year quarterback look as inexperienced as his resume would indicate. New free agent Calvin Ridley was the only Titan with more than 18 yards receiving, but even he caught just three of the seven balls thrown his way for a pedestrian 50 yards.

DeAndre Hopkins had just one catch for eight yards, and aside from a 22-yarder to Ridley and a 17-yard touchdown to tight end Chig Okonkwo that was nearly intercepted, Levis didn’t complete a single pass of more than 11 yards all day. The Bears made him pay for his mistakes, including an ill-advised backhand 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 desperate ball he threw on the game’s final possession that Johnson tied the game with.

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

Everyone loves a feel-good story, but the NFL is a results-driven business. Velus Jones Jr. rose to stardom in Hard blows 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, however, when he fired a kickoff return straight into the waiting arms of a Titans player late in the first quarter.

The world will never know if Jones would have made the roster had rookie Ian Wheeler torn his ACL in the final preseason game against the Chiefs. Like Jones, Wheeler had a good training camp and made the selection decision a tough one for Ryan Poles and the coaching staff to say the least. Fans were conflicted, too, as both players showed speed and winning personalities.

Wheeler’s heartbreaking injury meant Jones won the battle by default, but his hold on a roster spot will only be as strong as his grip on the ball, especially after his first two seasons were marked by a chronic case of butterfingers. Bears fans who gave Jones a second chance were unanimous in their desire to launch him to Lake Michigan after his botched kickoff, and while it was encouraging that the coaching staff gave him another shot on offense to help shore up his confidence (an eight-yard reception that showed off some of his speed), it’s clear he’s now on the shortest leash going forward.

Jones’ gaffe was the only 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, including 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 this roster if those hopes were dashed by Jones’ inability to hold onto the ball. He’s not only on thin ice, it’s nearly melted.

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 lone catch of the day came on a fluke ball that flew into the air and he promptly dropped it.

Better days are ahead for the Bears’ talented first-round pick, but the reason Poles is in the win column this week is his late-August trade for Seahawks pass rusher Darrell Taylor.

Poles acquired Taylor for just a sixth-round pick, and though Taylor has only been on the team for 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 took Levis down once and delivered a big hit on another play, while Montez Sweat, who Poles traded midseason last year and signed to an extension, had his typical disruptive day despite not picking up a sack himself.

Hard blows Viewers saw that Poles was unwilling to trade Patriots star Matthew Judon without an extension, resulting in the Falcons landing him instead. The 11th-hour, cheap pivot to Taylor already looks like a stroke of genius. It’s only been a week, but the Bears pass rush doesn’t appear to be the burden some pundits expected. Poles deserves credit.

We could honestly put the entire offense, except for DJ Moore, in the loser category. Keenan Allen had a critical drop on third down, Cole Kmet was absent, and we’ve already briefly touched on the uninspiring debuts of Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. The offensive line deserves a special mention, however, as 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 in the loss, he kept talking afterward, saying, “I didn’t see anything spectacular. They didn’t do a **** on offense.” The Bears got the last word by winning, but Simmons is right. He and his defensive teammates had their way in the trenches.

The Bears O-line couldn’t free up space for the running game. Newcomer D’Andre Swift finished with 10 carries for just 30 yards, but it’s hard to blame him when there was nowhere to run all day. Most of his production came on one carry for 20 yards, which wasn’t so much notable for the hole his line opened up for him, but for the way he created his own space by leaping over safety Quandre Diggs. Beyond that, Swift and the rest of the Bears’ running game were held back by Simmons and towering rookie T’Vondre Sweat.

The line also couldn’t give Caleb Williams much time to throw. The first of two sacks the line allowed that day was a 19-yard drive-killer where center Coleman Shelton was immediately fired by defensive tackle Keondre Coburn, eventually resulting in a Sebastian Joseph-Day takedown by Williams to put the Bears out of field goal range.

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

Bears fans have mixed feelings about “Bears football.” We all know what that means: a clunky offense and a stifling defense. If it feels like the Bears have been playing Bears football for decades, they have, but this year was supposed to be different.

The additions of Caleb Williams, Keenan Allen, D’Andre Swift and Rome Odunze were supposed to usher in a new era for a franchise that has historically struggled with scoring, but that certainly wasn’t the case in Week 1. It resulted in a win that in many ways surpassed the Denny Green, “They Are Who We Thought They Were” game (which somehow happened 18 years ago! I think I’m going to cry in my leather helmet) as the most Bears win ever, as ESPN reporter Turron Davenport noted after the game:

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

Bears fans don’t want to give up a fearsome defense, and thankfully, it doesn’t seem like they have to. Matt Eberflus’ defensive unit looks poised to build on an inspiring second half of last year, but is that too much to ask of an offense that can carry its weight? One day, we’ll hopefully all look back on Week 1 as a mixed bag from what turned out to be the best offense in Bears history. But for at least one week, Bears football was the winner again.

One week doesn’t make a failure, so even though Caleb Williams struggled in his pro debut, it will take more than that to get Bears fans involved, especially after a win in the season opener.

It should be noted, however, that Williams had a rough first day in the office and reiterated a number of issues that scouts were concerned about before he was selected first.

Williams recorded two sacks on the day, both of which could have been prevented if he had thrown the ball away. His mechanics weren’t great, resulting in a number of inaccurate passes that were thrown low or behind his receivers. He struggled particularly on third down, as he and the Bears offense converted just two of 13 attempts. He didn’t have an interception on the day, but the Titans did get their hands on a lot of his passes.

In the end, Williams was 14-29 for just 93 yards and a horrendous 22.2 QBR, a stat line that just isn’t going to cut it against most teams. Certainly not 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 about as pressure as it gets. Williams wasn’t up to the challenge in Week 1, but fortunately for him, the defense and special teams gave him a mulligan. We’ll learn a lot more about his worth by how he bounces back in Week 2.