CHICAGO – The Bears postgame locker room was a party on Sunday afternoon. And for good reason. They had just eliminated a three-score deficit and secured a 24-17 victory over Tennessee to start this regular season, mounting the largest comeback win since 2020 with a second-half defensive performance for the ages.

Head coach Matt Eberflus stood before his team, prior to media being allowed in, and said how proud he was off this group for their resilience.

The real locker room vibe check came at halftime, with the Bears down 17-3. Chicago couldn’t get anything going on offense. They had experienced a major special-teams miscue after Velus Jones Jr. muffed a kick and gave it right to the opposition. The Bears defense wasn’t awful, but gave up chunk yardage on the ground and a passing touchdown.

“During halftime they were great,” Eberflus said. “They looked at each other in the eyes and looked at each other and said, ‘We got this.’

“That’s a different attitude and culture we’ve developed over here the last couple of years.”

Here’s what Eberflus and captain Kevin Byard III said to the team after the win:

Bears cohesion was clear in the second half, when defense and special teams dominated to secure a big win, even with the offense out of sync.

That halftime break, however, was telling. Nothing went right, but nobody panicked. The Bears believed they would come back and win. Eberflus took note of that. It was noticed by quarterback Caleb Williams, who was struggling through his professional debut.

“Coach said, ‘you all walked in here and said to each other that we’re not going to lose this game,’” Williams said. “’We’re going to go out there and keep fighting. We’ve got this, we’ve got this.’

“We weren’t shaming on anybody. Defense not getting on the offense, all these other things. It shows the personality, how much everybody believes in us, the Chicago Bears. Defense believes in the offense, offense believes in the defense, special teams and so forth. We’re great to get this win, happy to get this win, celebrating in the locker room — it was pretty cool, for first time celebrating in here.”

The Bears postgame locker room was a celebration. There were media scrums around the game’s heroes. Tyrique Stevenson was holding court after a pick six.

Daniel Hardy and Jonathan Owens talked about their involvement in a blocked punt that led to a scoop and score. Jaylon Johnson recounted his game-sealing interception.

Young players like receiver Rome Odunze talked NFL debuts. DeMarcus Walker discussed about his big day and the effort of a defensive line that put steady pressure on Levis and forced some errant, easily intercepted throws.

Sunday afternoon was a fun moment to be a Bear, knowing full-well that they got a win when they weren’t at their best. The offense struggled mightily all day, averaging just 2.8 yards per play. Williams was missing throws and the backs didn’t have room to run.

This team won because they stayed together and relied on each other from that halftime break onward, and battled their way back into this game.

“You’ve got to have that belief — the belief in the man next to you, belief in your teammates,” Eberflus said. “It’s not just about one guy. That’s what I saw at halftime. They exhibited that the second half.”

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