Will Levis deserves all the blame for 17-point implosion against Bears

When Week 1 kicked off on the road, the Tennessee Titans jumped out to an early lead. The Titans took advantage of a discombobulated Chicago Bears team in the first quarter and a half, and roared out to a 17-0 lead approaching halftime.

Immediately after that lead was built, the Bears started to sneak back into this one, adding a field goal just before the half.

But, in the second half, Tennessee completely imploded at the hands of starting quarterback Will Levis. Let's just say, the bit of hype surrounding Levis in Year 2 didn't exactly play out as expected.

First of all, no, Levis was not to blame for the Bears blocking a punt and taking it back for a score, making it 17-10. However, after two consecutive possessions that ended in a punt, sandwiched by another Bears field goal, Levis was sacked and stripped by pass rusher Darrell Taylor. That started the complete unraveling.

Chicago would bring it to 17-16 after the strip-sack of Levis. And then, on the very next Titans drive, Levis did something you simply cannot do.

On a third-and-6, Levis tried to play hero ball by extending a play that would have been better off ending in a sack. Instead, Levis' pass intended for Tyler Boyd resulted in a pitch-and-catch interception for Chicago defensive back Tyrique Stevenson.

Stevenson would return the pick for a score, putting the bears up 22-17.

Chicago would go for the two-point conversion and got it, which resulted in the final score of 24-17.

But, before we got to the final score, Tennesee had another shot with plenty of time left.

With 2:20 left on the clock, Levis hit Calvin Ridley for a 22-yard gain. Titans fans had a glimpse of hope. After gaining a net-zero total yards on the next three plays, Tennessee faced a fourth-and-10 with the game on the line.

And then, Levis' unraveling reached a new low.

Levis threw up a prayer of a pick to end the game.

Will Levis' road doesn't get any easier in Week 2

Levis ended his Week 1 outing with a rating of just 52.5, going 19-of-32 for just 127 yards, one touchdown, two picks and a lost fumble. He was also sacked three times.

Next week, he'll get the distinct pleasure of welcoming the New York Jets defense to the home crowd. The Jets should end up being one of the better units in football, defensively, which means Levis has to brush this one off, watch some film and figure out how he can correct his mistakes in a hurry.

This performance, by Levis, was so underwhelming that it would have arguably been the worst game of his rookie season, maybe aside from the Week 16 loss to the Texans.

Again, he's set to face the Jets in Week 2, who ended last year as the league's no. 2 overall pass defense and should be even better this season. It's not going to get easier. Can Levis pull it together?