In his first regular-season game as Bears defensive coordinator, Eric Washington saw the unit lean on their confidence individually and collectively to power a second-half resurgence.

Highlighted by nine returning starters, the Bears went from allowing three straight scoring drives in the first half to shutting out the Titans in the final 30 minutes. In seven second-half possessions, Tennessee averaged 4.14 plays per drive and totaled just 65 yards of offense.

"The mental toughness was outstanding," Washington told reporters Thursday. "To have that kind of deficit and some of the things that we didn't do well in the first half, especially in terms of addressing the run, and to go in the locker room and there was — we have an expression: don't blink. There was none of that.

"I was just so proud of that, the way that we fought, and we just kept grinding and grinding and things started to go in our favor. We were opportunistic and took the ball away and were able to help our team win. It says everything about the character of our players since I've been coming to this podium."

The second-half surge, which included three takeaways, started up front with the Bears defensive line. After recording just one sack and one quarterback hit in the first half, the Bears finished the game with three sacks and 10 quarterback hits.

Washington saw the entire defense contribute to the increased pressure on Titans quarterback Will Levis after halftime.

"Energy and coordination and the coverage doing an exception job of forcing the quarterback to hold the football," Washington said. "Those things have to work in concert for the rush to get home. But it starts with just that urgency, the energy. [Defensive line coach] Travis [Smith] did an excellent job of managing the rotations, so we had the right players fresh and explosive at the right time."

Defensive end Darrell Taylor, who the Bears acquired in a trade with Seattle last month, led the team with 2.0 sacks, including a strip-sack that resulted in a fumble recovery by linebacker T.J. Edwards.

Despite only having a couple weeks of practice with his new team, Taylor played 59% of the defensive snaps Sunday, behind fellow defensive ends DeMarcus Walker (83%) and Montez Sweat (69%). Washington credited Taylor's professionalism and skill level for his quick adjustment to the Bears scheme and personnel.

"He's got length and quickness," Washington said. "He has all the requisite tools that you need to be a really dynamic one-on-one pass rusher, but you have to do that in concert with the other three guys or the other four guys if we're adding a person, so just a lot of credit to him and [assistant defensive line coach] Bryan Bing for really helping to accelerate his growth and knowledge of what we're doing defensively."

Other players that stood out to Washington included Walker and defensive tackle Andrew Billings — both in their second seasons with the Bears. Billings, who played 70% of the defensive snaps, recorded a pair of quarterback hits and a tackle-for-loss.

Billings' most impressive play in Washington's opinion came during the first Titans drive of the third quarter. Billings worked from the inside, got around the tackle and chased Levis down hit the quarterback as he released the ball, force and incompletion and bring up third-and-15.

"Just the effort — hot day, reps had started to accumulate, we need him to anchor the line of scrimmage," Washington said. "The effort that he used to rush the quarterback I just thought was phenomenal. We have a saying in the room: 'When you see big men running, whether its in pursuit or chasing the quarterback, that's always a positive sign.' It's something that really energizes our entire defense."

Walker tallied a team-high four hits on Levis, one of which resulted in cornerback Tyrique Stevenson's 43-yard pick-six. Walker rushed off the right side, beat tackle JC Latham and wrapped his arms around Levis, who flipped the ball right into Stevenson's hands.

"Doing his job with just unbelievable precision, accuracy and detail," Washington said of Walker on the pick-six, "and to start where he started and to be in a position to hit the quarterback — he understood the assignment and he did a great job of executing, and not only that, but just following through as the play extended."

While Washington saw the defense showcase their playmaking skills against the Titans, he knows the group will need to elevate their play even more Sunday night against the Texans in Houston.

The Bears will face off against second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud — who threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns in Houston's Week 1 win over the Colts — and a high-powered rushing attack led by Joe Mixon, who rushed 30 times for 159 yards and a score in his Texans debut.

"The first [challenge] is to the defense — making sure we play to our standard for four quarters in every aspect of what we do, with all of our values, our culture," Washington said, "and then just stopping the run and just doing everything we can going into this week to elevate our level of play - our discipline, ball production, hits on the quarterback, just being efficient on first and second down. We want to make sure we take a pretty decent jump this week."