Justin Fields played the second half after Andy Dalton exited with a knee injury against his former team, and the rookie quarterback used Chicago's stellar defensive performance to direct the Bears to a 20-17 victory over Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

Roquan Smith returned an interception 53 yards for his first career touchdown, one of three straight picks thrown by Burrow and four consecutive takeaways for the Bears during the decisive stretch in their first win of the season.

Fields took over on Chicago's final drive of the second quarter after getting in on a handful of plays prior to that. But the biggest key for the Bears was the defense bouncing back after it was picked apart by Matthew Stafford in a season-opening loss at the Los Angeles Rams.

Dalton was hurt on a 14-yard run early in the second quarter. Fields took the final three snaps of that possession.

Dalton was in for the next drive, before Fields led Chicago's final one of the half. Dalton took some warmup throws at halftime, but did not return to the game.

The Bears were up 20-3 before Burrow threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase. Fields then got intercepted at the Chicago 25 by Logan Wilson, who returned it to the 7. Burrow hit Tee Higgins for a 7-yard TD on the next play, cutting it to 20-17 with 3:39 remaining. But the Bears hung on for their third straight win over Cincinnati (1-1).

Fields, who was in on five plays in the opener, completed just 6 of 13 passes. The No. 11 overall draft pick also ran for 31 yards.

Dalton, facing his former team for the second time in as many seasons, threw a touchdown pass to Allen Robinson. The three-time Pro Bowler, who led Dallas to a victory at Cincinnati last year, completed 9 of 11 passes for 56 yards.

Robinson caught his 40th career TD when he hauled in an 11-yarder on the game's opening possession.

Robert Quinn had one of Chicago's four sacks, giving him 1 1/2 on the season. He had just two last year.

The Bears are in Cleveland next Sunday.