The Chicago Bears offense looks completely different with quarterback Caleb Williams on the field as evidenced in their 30-24 win over the New England Patriots.
Chicago had over 400 total yards in this game for the third time this season. This was also just the second game the Bears’ offense did not commit a turnover; the other time was in their Week 3 win against the Philadelphia Eagles. Their offense started the game a little slow with only 29 yards on their opening drive. But they were able to turn that into a field goal since their drive started at midfield following a failed fourth-down conversion by the New England Patriots.
Defensively, Chicago completely shut down the Patriots’ offense in the first quarter, forcing a turnover on downs followed by two punts. Things started to get going in the second quarter for New England’s offense as they were able to put up two touchdowns, including their 48-yard touchdown with three seconds left in the first half. That is the second time Chicago has given up a touchdown with three seconds or less left in the first half after giving up a touchdown to the Eagles with one second left.
Here are a lot of studs and one dud from Chicago’s fifth win of the season, including Caleb Williams, who has over 300 passing yards for the second straight game and kicker Cairo Santos, who redeemed himself late.
Stud: K Cairo Santos
After his doink on a 53-yard field goal, it seemed like a surprising decision for the Bears to send Cairo Santos out for a 58-yarder to make it a two-possession game with 1:34 left in the game and the Patriots out of timeouts. But the decision paid off as Santos had some room left on the field goal and gave Chicago the 30-21 lead. Before this kick, his longest field goal was 55 yards, which he made back in 2023. So, not only was this the longest field goal of his career, but also the longest field goal in the history of the Chicago Bears and the third-longest field goal in the history of Soldier Field, according to the broadcast. There are a lot of people who have doubted Santos and his leg, but he made a statement with his 58-yard field goal when the Bears needed it most.
Stud: WR Luther Burden III
Luther Burden III did not have a single target in the second half, but still finished the game with four receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown. Chicago does no win this game without the amazing first half Burden had, especially his touchdown on a third and long. Burden came into this game as Chicago’s leading receiver through the first six games and now has his first game with at least 100 yards this year. It is also the second-most receiving yards Burden has had in a game in his career. He is also Chicago’s only receiver with more than one receiving touchdown after getting his second touchdown of the year.
Stud: QB Caleb Williams
Caleb Williams finished the game completing 66.7 percent of his passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns. He became the first quarterback for the Bears since Mitch Trubisky in 2018 to have back-to-back games with at least 300 passing yards. This is also the second game in Williams’ career where he threw for at least 300 passing yards, did not have an interception and the Bears won. He has come back from his hamstring injury looking better than he did last season, which is saying a lot. There is no doubt he is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now.
Stud: TE Colston Loveland
Colston Loveland is officially getting hot. After scoring a touchdown last week, Loveland finished the game with the most targets (12) and most receptions (seven) of anyone in this game. He also scored a touchdown for the second week in a row. The Bears meant it when they said they were going to continue to feed him the ball and it is paying off right now despite the fact that he had two drops in this game.
Stud: LB D’Marco Jackson
D'Marco Jackson finished the game with the second-most tackles of anyone on the team, but his interception changed the game and was ultimately one of the deciding factors in Chicago’s win. With under four minutes left in the first half, New England was driving down the field and got into the red zone. Maye took a shot at the end zone and Jackson caught the interception for the only turnover of the game. If the Patriots had scored a touchdown on that drive and gotten the extra point, they would have taken the lead. Instead, they never had a lead in this game thanks to Jackson’s interception, which was only the second of his career.
Stud: RB D’Andre Swift
Early in the game, D'Andre Swift took a shot to the knee from a Patriots defender and it looked like he might be out for the rest of the game. Instead, he finished the game with 22 rushing attempts for 78 yards and a touchdown, as well as four receptions for 12 yards. The Bears needed Swift to step up in this game since Kyle Monangai was out for a third straight week. He did everything Chicago needed him to and was a key part of this victory.
Stud: CB Kyler Gordon
Kyler Gordon may not have finished this game with three sacks, but he still had one sack early in the game and had two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. Chicago’s defense was getting pressure on Maye all game and Gordon was a large part of that. Having him back in the lineup has clearly unlocked some schemes for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen even when he is not the one blitzing. He has been a hug addition to Chicago’s defense in the past two games.
Dud: CB Jaylon Johnson
The Bears might be better off just having 10 players on defense than having Jaylon Johnson on the field. He finished this game with just two tackles. But he also had a pass interference penalty late in the game and could have made the tackle on Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson right before halftime to prevent that touchdown. There was also a scramble by New England quarterback Drake Maye where he ran right by Johnson and he never even made an attempt at a tackle. He has been terrible all season. Maybe Chicago should try and trade him before the deadline, but it is unclear what teams would even want him.
Follow Bears Wire on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Studs and duds from Bears’ 30-24 win against the Patriots