There are few things more satisfying for an NFL team than to score a big win after a frustrating loss, and that’s exactly what the Chicago Bears got on Sunday. The Bears absolutely dominated the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, cleansing their pallet of that ignominious loss to the Green Bay Packers last week. The Falcons did make it interesting near the end, but the Bears were never in serious danger.
The return of Caleb Williams from his hamstring injury could not have gone much better than it did, and I’ll speak on that more in a moment. Also of note was the return of Ozzy Trapilo. He got his first NFL action since rupturing his patellar tendon in January. Unfortunately for Trapilo, his 2026 debut was marred by an untimely holding penalty that erased a big pass play to Rome Odunze.
This wasn't a perfect game by any means, and the Bears face a short turnaround with the resurgent New England Patriots coming to Soldier Field on Thursday. But for now, let's hand out some game balls for this Week 6 win.
1. Caleb Williams
If it wasn't already on life support, the narrative that head coach Ben Johnson's offense could be run better by another quarterback in Chicago should now be truly dead. Williams started the game with two perfect drives that ended in touchdowns, going 10-for-10 passing for 120 yards and a touchdown in that time, and never looked back.
Though he only threw for one touchdown, Williams racked up over 300 passing yards and completed an absurd 83.3% of his passes, surpassing two of three expectations in my stat predictions for this Bears-Falcons game. More importantly, he reminded the NFL that he is a budding superstar at the quarterback position. So long as he’s under center, the Bears are a threat to beat anyone.
2. Kyler Gordon
Welcome back, Kyler Gordon! In his first game of the 2026 season, Gordon racked up an insane stat line that includes not one, not two, but three sacks. When he's on the field, Gordon is exactly the kind of playmaker that the Bears signed to a market-setting contract extension last year. The problem has been the fact that he's not on the field very often. He played in just five games last year, which includes the Bears' two playoff games, and he missed the first five weeks of this season.
If Gordon can keep playing like he did on Sunday, and if he doesn't miss another game the rest of the year, he's going to force the Bears into a very difficult offseason decision regarding his contract. Clearly, he's a difference maker, but can he stay healthy? That's a question for Ryan Poles to answer in the spring. For now, however, he's earned this game ball.
3. Colston Loveland
It took far longer than anyone anticipated, but Colston Loveland finally got on the board with his first touchdown of the 2026 NFL season. He caught an absolute dart from Caleb Williams in between two defenders in the red zone on the Bears opening drive and held on to put up six points. He finished the game with six receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown, and for that he gets this last game ball.
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