Caleb Williams passed for 298 yards and four touchdowns and the defense generated four takeaways while allowing only one TD in leading the Bears to an impressive 31-14 win over the Cowboys Sunday at Soldier Field.
The Bears improved to 1-2 by scoring the game's final 17 points after Dallas had tied the contest 14-14 midway through the second quarter.
"Our points of emphasis going into the week were [about] playing great situational football," said coach Ben Johnson. "I'm talking about third down, red zone and two minute and I thought they really answered that bell. We were statistically better than [the Cowboys] in all three of those areas and that was a good formula for us to come out on top."
The Bears held a 57.1% to 27.3% edge in third-down efficiency, scored touchdowns on 2 of 3 red zone possessions while holding Dallas to one TD on four trips inside-the-20 and capped a two-minute drill with a touchdown at the end of the first half.
Williams posted a career-high 142.6 passer rating and matched a career high with four TD passes, including a 65-yarder on a flea flicker to rookie receiver Luther Burden III, who had three catches for a game-high 101 yards.
"I thought [Williams] was really good," Johnson said. "And the thing that you don't see on the stat sheet is he's getting a lot more comfortable calling those plays in the huddle. We're able to get out of the huddle a little bit faster and we're able to get on the line and operate a little bit cleaner as well. I was proud of him for that."
Tremaine Edmunds led the defense, intercepting Dak Prescott on back-to-back fourth-quarter possessions deep in Bears territory. The first came when the veteran linebacker dove to catch a pass that had deflected off receiver George Pickens. Edmunds also compiled a team-leading 15 tackles.
"He was all over the field," Johnson said. "He really came through for us in a big way."
Johnson presented game balls to Williams and Edmunds. Williams countered by giving Johnson a game ball to commemorate his first win as an NFL head coach.
"How strong of a coach he is, how mentally tough that he is, it feeds into all of us," Williams told ChicagoBears.com. "To be able to have this win, it's important to have this moment with his family, with us as players, but also for this organization and the momentum that we're trying to catch. The train is going. It's starting. We've just got to keep going and be consistent and stay on the rails."
The Bears defense made a statement on the Cowboys' first possession of the game when cornerback Tyrique Stevenson ripped the ball away from running back Javonte Williams after a 26-yard rush at the Chicago 24.
"We came through with timely plays when we needed it and that's a good example of it," Johnson said. "Tyrique had a really nice bounce-back game. He's one of those guys, like a lot of us, we haven't started the season the way we wanted to, yet he's capable of being a big-time player in this league and I thought he played that way today."
The Bears capitalized on the turnover, taking a 7-0 lead on Williams' 35-yard touchdown pass to receiver Rome Odunze down the left sideline. The score capped a 5-play, 76-yard drive that included a 31-yard completion to rookie tight end Colston Loveland.
After Brandon Aubrey's 53-yard field goal cut the deficit to 7-3, the Bears answered by dipping into their bag of tricks to extend their lead to 14-3. Williams pitched the ball to running back D'Andre Swift, who headed into the line, put on the brakes and pitched back to Williams, who heaved a 65-yard TD pass to Burden.
The Cowboys tied the score 14-14 midway through the second quarter on Prescott's 2-yard TD pass to Pickens coupled with a two-point conversion pass to receiver Jalen Tolbert.
From there, it was all Bears. They regained a 17-14 lead on Cairo Santos' 30-yard field goal with 4:15 remaining in the first half. The drive was sustained by a screen pass on third-and-9 to Swift, who weaved through defense for 41 yards to the Dallas 23.
The Bears widened the margin to 24-14 on Williams' 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cole Kmet with :25 left in the half. The TD came immediately after Williams had connected with Odunze for 13 yards on third-and-2 and Burden for 29 yards.
In the first half, Williams completed 10 of 16 passes for 239 yards, three TDs, no turnovers and a 145.8 passer rating.
"We came out and we executed well," Kmet said. "Credit to the coaching staff. For us, at least offensively, there were a lot of things that were really open. They obviously saw some good stuff on tape and Caleb did a good job of distributing the football to guys."
Williams threw his fourth TD pass of the game late in the third quarter, a 4-yarder to receiver DJ Moore on fourth-and-goal, to increase the Bears' lead to 31-14. The score capped a 19-play, 76-yard drive that burned 9:54 off the clock. The Bears called 11 straight running plays during one stretch on the possession.
"To have what seems like a forever drive to give them a punch in the gut there was really good for us and a good confidence booster for the rest of the season," Kmet said. "It's an identity builder. People always talk about, 'What's the identity?' You really want your identity for any team to be physical and be able to run the ball at will. I thought we did that on that drive."
The Bears picked up seven first downs on the drive.
"It was tiring," Williams said. "I was hoping that [Johnson] would call a pass play so we could try and go score and end the drive. But we ended up running the ball well, getting that going, and then being able to find a strike right there and score. It was awesome."
The defense closed with an exclamation point, registering interceptions on Dallas' final three possessions of the game. Edmunds recorded the first two against Prescott and safety Kevin Byard III picked off backup quarterback Joe Milton with :52 to play.
Rebounding from last Sunday's loss to the Lions started during the week in practice.
"The first two weeks have not gone the way we wanted to," Johnson said. "It's early, but we've got to get the issues fixed. I thought those guys were committed to that here this week. We had a good week of preparation, and they came out and played inspired football today. Good things happen when you're playing hard, you're playing physical and you're playing for the guy next to you, and I thought that's what happened here today."
"It starts in practice and how consistent we were in practice," Williams added. "The preparation, when we're actually between the white lines, and going there and competing versus each other and having these tough practices, it builds the confidence for us to be able to go out here and have a game like we had today."
