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Turron Davenport, ESPNSep 8, 2024, 08:09 PM ET
- Turron Davenport covers the Tennessee Titans for ESPN. Turron is a former collegiate football player at Cheyney University and is a native of Philadelphia, and he has authored/co-authored four books. You can catch Turron on ESPN Radio on his show “Talking with TD” and you can follow him on Twitter: @TDavenport_NFL.
CHICAGO — Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis took Sunday’s 24-17 loss to the Chicago Bears personally. It was Levis’ ill-advised attempt to throw the ball away that turned into a pick-six by Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, giving Chicago the lead it needed to win the game.
“That was just a bonehead play,” Levis said after the loss. “It’s gut-wrenching. I can’t remember a game in my career where I feel like I blatantly, kind of handed it over to [the other team], and it’s hard for me to deal with that.”
Levis finished the day having completed 19 of 32 pass attempts for 127 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. His 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo gave the Titans a commanding 17-0 lead late in the second quarter.
The Bears chipped away at that gradually in the second half despite finishing the game without an offensive touchdown.
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“We can’t have that,” coach Brian Callahan said. “You can’t have an interception returned when you’re up 17-16 at midfield. The way our defense was playing, it’s a killer.”
Tennessee’s defense stifled rookie quarterback Caleb Williams in his NFL debut and held the Bears to only 148 yards of offense. It was the first time a rookie No. 1 draft pick QB won his season opener since David Carr in 2002, and according to ESPN Research, Chicago became the first team in NFL history to win a game in which it trailed by at least 17 points and had fewer than 150 total yards.
It was the Titans’ fourth consecutive season-opening loss.
Despite having allowed only two long field goals (48 and 50 yards) by Bears kicker Cairo Santos, the Titans’ defense wouldn’t allow Levis to take the blame for the loss.
“It’s a team sport,” Titans linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr. said. “Will is a tremendous guy, a leader. For him to be able to feel some type of responsibility like that, I’d tell him don’t take it on the chin so hard. We’re all in this together.”
