Scoring second-half touchdowns on defense and special teams, the Bears stormed back from a 17-0 deficit to stun the Titans 24-17 in Sunday's season opener at Soldier Field.

"I got out of the locker room just briefly ago and told the guys how proud I was of them, of their halftime," Eberflus said. "During the halftime they were great. They looked each other in the eye and leaned in and leaned on each other and looked at each other and said, 'We got this.' That's a different attitude and a different culture that we've developed over here the last couple of years. The guys did a nice job in the second half."

With the offense struggling, the special teams unit provided a spark early in the third quarter when Daniel Hardy blocked a Ryan Stonehouse punt and Jonathan Owens returned it 21 yards for a touchdown, drawing the Bears to within 17-10.

After Cairo Santos' 50-yard field goal closed the gap to 17-13 early in the fourth quarter, Darrell Taylor's strip-sack of Will Levis resulted in a fumble that T.J. Edwards recovered at the Tennessee 31.

"Hit him with a little foot freeze, got the hands off me and the quarterback still had the ball, so I just had to chase him down and I got him," Taylor said. "I just hurried up and grabbed him. I didn't see he was throwing the ball yet. I just hurried up and snatched him and the ball came out."

The Bears capitalized on the first of three fourth-quarter takeaways as Santos drilled a 48-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to 17-16 with 9:52 to play.

Tyrique Stevenson followed by intercepting a Levis pass and returning it 43 yards for a touchdown. Caleb Williams completed a pass to D'Andre Swift for the two-point conversion, giving the Bears their first lead at 24-17 with 7:35 remaining.

Levis was in the process of being sacked by DeMarcus Walker when the Titans quarterback attempted to fling the ball out of bounds. But it went directly to Stevenson, who raced untouched down the sideline into the end zone.

"Honestly, I was thinking sack," Stevenson said. "The goal was to go out there and hold them to a third-and-long, get off the field and get the ball back to Caleb. [Levis] pitched it. He made a mistake and we just capitalized off it. I'm glad I gave this team the energy we needed to finish the game."

Jaylon Johnson clinched the victory by intercepting a Levis pass at the Bears' 40 with 1:05 remaining.

The Bears were outgained by the Titans 244-148 and did not score an offensive touchdown. Williams completed 14 of 29 passes for 93 yards and a 55.7 passer rating. Swift led the Bears in rushing with 30 yards on 10 carries.

"Offensive play, obviously we didn't perform how we wanted to," Williams said. "We want to be the most efficient team out there, myself included. Didn't perform the way I wanted to. I missed a few passed that I normally don't miss … Felt like I was in the right place at the right time, and I would say I was seeing it well. Just missed and misfired and placing the ball where I wanted to."

The Titans took a 7-0 lead on Tony Pollard's 26-yard touchdown run with :41 left in the first quarter, capping an 8-play, 79-yard drive. The score came after the Bears defense had forced three-and-outs on Tennessee's first two possessions.

Velus Jones Jr. fumbled the ensuing kickoff, dropping the ball and kicking it forward, where it was recovered by the Titans' Julius Chestnut at the Chicago 23.

Taylor recorded the Bears' first sack of the season and Tennessee settled for Nick Folk's 40-yard field goal, widening the margin to 10-0.

The Titans increased their lead to 17-0 on Levis' 17-yard TD pass to tight end Chig Okonkwo with 3:44 remaining in the first half. The TD capped a 14-play, 73-yard drive that was sustained by Levis' 22-yard pass to Calvin Ridley on third-and-15 and an offside penalty on Montez Sweat on third-and-5.

DeAndre Carter, who already had punt returns of 16 and 20 yards, returned the ensuing kickoff 67 yards to the Titans' 34. That set up Santos' 24-yard field goal, drawing the Bears to within 17-3 with :27 remaining in the first half.

The Titans outgained the Bears 88-5 in the first quarter and 179-51 in the first half.

The Bears offense stalled again on its first drive of the second half, punting on fourth-and-30 after two incomplete passes, two penalties and a sack.

But the defense and special teams saved the day, propelling the Bears to the season-opening victory.

After allowing two TDs and a field goal on three straight first-half possessions, the defense held the Titans scoreless in the second half.

"I think we had to sit back and realize who we are," Stevenson said, "stop playing for the hype, stop playing for everything else around us and just realize that we put in work just for a moment like this."

"We just responded," Johnson added. "We knew that wasn't like us. We had a few big explosive plays from runs that got away from us, some miscommunication. But overall we kept pushing, kept going. We know that we're a dominant defense and that's what we showed."