CHICAGO, Ill. — The Bears weathered the NFL’s longest preseason, starting in the lead-up to the Hall of Fame game through the end of an extended exhibition slate.

There was no team more excited to start the regular season than this one. Optimism surrounding this team was sky-high, especially with quarterback Caleb Williams viewed as the new face of the franchise.

[Complete Bears coverage following Week 1 win, including exclusive interviews and breakdowns]

The No. 1 overall pick made his NFL debut on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans at Solider Field, but it was far from perfect. Williams made plenty of mistakes and wasn’t the only Bear to do so, but things got interesting in the second half, when Chicago came alive.

The Bears ended up rattling off 24 unanswered points to secure a thrilling 24-17 victory.

Let’s take a closer look at important moments and key stats from this Week 1 affair:

Bair’s break down

The Bears were down three scores late in the first half, seemingly doomed by mistakes and missed opportunities to make positive contributions.

Then DeAndre Carter delivered a big kickoff return that turned into a second-quarter field goal. Daniel Hardy later blocked a Titans punt that Jonathan Owens scooped up and scored from 18 yards out.

That put the Bears right back in it after some miserable offensive series slowed their attack to a halt. Williams struggled through most of his NFL debut, seemingly out of sync with the timing and accuracy of his throws. That allowed Tennessee to key on the run game, which couldn’t find consistency down the stretch.

Big plays in the kicking game – more on that below – and on defense kept Chicago in it. A fourth-quarter strip sack by Darrell Taylor was instrumental in the Bears comeback, producing a field goal that cut the deficit to 1 point.

Then Tyrique Stevenson came up huge with a pick six to put the Bears up seven points. The Bears were able to ride defense and a clutch special teams play to victory. They’ll need more from Williams and the offense moving forward, but the young quarterback didn’t make a catastrophic mistake and the efforts from those around him were enough to pull out a win. – Scott Bair

Key stat

Williams showed some growing pains.

He finished 14-for-29 for 93 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and a 55.7 passer rating. He did have a nice 11-yard scramble to pick up a first down but overall struggled to find rhythm with his group of receivers.

Williams had several passes tipped or knocked down at the line of scrimmage throughout the game and also took a pair of sacks.

[WATCH: Joniak, Bair recap Bears’ clutch comeback]

Pivot point

The game started out rough for the Bears as they trailed 17-0.

But they were able to notch a field goal just before halftime and then the game turned on a huge special teams play early in the 3rd quarter.

The Bears blocked a punt and safety Jonathan Owens scooped it up and scampered into the end zone for a crucial Bears touchdown:

That made it a 17-10 game and completely flipped the momentum in the game.

[WATCH: Coach Wannstedt breaks down blocked punt]

The Bears went on to add a defensive touchdown in the middle of the 4th quarter when Tyrique Stevenson picked off a Will Levis shovel pass and took it 43 yards to the house.

What’s next

The Bears will travel to Houston for Sunday Night Football, setting up an anticipated matchup of young quarterback, pitting No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams against 2023 offensive rookie of the year C.J. Stroud in Week 2 at NRG Stadium. — SB

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