Byard on win over Titans, impressions of Darrell Taylor |
CHICAGO - Safety Kevin Byard’s revenge game against his former team, the Tennessee Titans, ended in victory as Chicago’s defense led the team to a 24-17 win.
This game tied for the fourth-largest comeback in Bears history. They were down 17 points early in the game and went into halftime down 14 points. “We could have easily went in at halftime and just from probably years past, ‘Okay, here we go again.’ (We) really stayed together. There really was no panic in the locker room. We knew we had to fix some things,” Byard said. “We had full confidence the offense was going to get it going. They didn’t. But, at the end of the day, we just knew that (We) keep doing (what) we’re doing as a defense. If we do not let them score, we’re going to win the ballgame. We found a way to win. Sometimes in the NFL, games are like that. They’re going to be ugly. They’re not all going to be pretty, not always going to get style points. But, a win is a win, and we’ll take a win for the first game of the year.” Byard put it bluntly—the offense did not step up. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams seemed to have trouble connecting with his receivers throughout the game, and despite the fact that Chicago’s offense was unable to put up a touchdown, the Bears made a 17-point comeback sparked by a punt returned for a touchdown by safety Jonathan Owens. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had the game-winning pick-six. Williams was surely frustrated with his performance, but the defense also proved just how dominant they can be. “It was a couple of times he came to the sideline. He may have been frustrated with a throw that he had or something. I said, ‘We got your back. Don’t even worry about it.’ I kept reminding him. I said, ‘Y’all guys are going to make a play to win us the ballgame.’ So, it’s just a reminder, just keep letting guys know that we got your back (because) that’s what a team is,” Byard said. “I know for a fact that there’s going to be a game this year where we’re going to need the offense to make plays for the defense because we’re going to go against some high-powered offenses. We got C.J. Stroud and the boys upcoming this week. At the end of the day, it’s all about (the) team … We’re all going to continue to play well to win ball games.” There are a number of big names on the defense—edge rusher Montez Sweat, cornerback Jaylon Johnson, Stevenson, and Byard, to name a few. Johnson had his first pick of the season to seal Chicago’s victory, but the real stars of the game were the players fans do not hear about as much. One of those players was defensive end Darrell Taylor who had two sacks and forced a fumble. “Love seeing what Darrell did in his first game as a Chicago Bear,” Byard said. “He played his behind off, just even watching the film, flying around and even talking to Tez at the end of the game, I know Tez wanted to join the party. But, I was just talking to him. I said, ‘Hey man, you’re one of the ones. You’re going to get a lot of attention throughout this year because that’s just how it goes. You get a big contract, you make the Pro Bowl, you make plays, they’re going to chip you. They’re going to do all different things like that. So, some guys you’re going to open up a lot of one-on-ones for other guys to make plays’ and I know he’s going to figure out ways to obviously defeat those things. But, it was a great win yesterday, just a team win, especially on the defense watching guys at all three levels make plays.” Chicago’s defense will face a bigger challenge in week two going against quarterback C.J. Stroud, his trio of receivers in Tank Dell, Nico Collins, and Stefon Diggs, as well as running back Joe Mixon when the Bears take on the Houston Texans on Sun. Sept. 15 (7:20 p.m. / NBC) in their first primetime game of the year.
