Bears Hold Off Manic Falcons Comeback: 3 Takeaways From Chicago’s Win

Caleb Williams’ return from injury didn’t disappoint, but Chicago’s fourth-quarter performance left plenty to be desired. After building a 31-7 lead, the Bears relaxed and nearly let the Falcons back in the game. Atlanta cut it to a one-possession lead with under five minutes to go, but a strip sack of Michael Penix ended the rally. In the end, Atlanta just couldn’t keep up with Chicago’s high-powered offense. Falling behind early took Bijan Robinson out of the game, and Penix struggled to match his draft classmate throw-for-throw before catching fire late. Here are my takeaways: Ben Johnson did commendable work keeping Chicago’s offense afloat during Williams’ three-week absence, but it just wasn’t the same without the dynamic quarterback under center. The third-year quarterback wasted no time Sunday showing what the unit had been missing, completing his first 12 passes and leading the Bears on two touchdown drives to open the game. Johnson’s play-calling set up his quarterback for success, but Williams’ creativity got Chicago on the board for the opening score. He broke out of a crumbling pocket and fired a throw to Colston Loveland that broke one of the golden rules of quarterbacking: don’t throw late and across your body. The rules don’t apply when you possess that kind of talent. In Tom Brady’s words, Williams had that ball gyrating on Sunday. That’s the kind of throw Case Keenum wouldn’t dare try. Tyson Bagent might try it but would fail miserably nine times out of 10. For Williams, it feels more like a layup. That element elevates the Bears offense from a well-coached unit to one capable of reaching historic heights. Johnson’s scheme raises the floor; Williams talent blows up the ceiling. They make quite the duo. In a league-wide draft of coach-quarterback combos, Chicago’s pairing might go first overall if age were strongly considered. These two are already hard to beat in their current form, and they’ll just keep improving as they gain experience. Williams is already playing like one of the league’s best quarterbacks. After completing 30-of-36 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown, he ranks second in the NFL in expected points added per dropback, according to Next Gen Stats. He ranks third in success rate and is completing over 70% of his passes, which had been the benchmark Johnson set for his young quarterback last offseason. Williams’ 83% completion rate against Atlanta was his highest single-game mark. He’s found efficiency to match his knack for big plays. If the 24-year-old keeps this up, he’ll force his way into the MVP conversation. Williams and Penix looked like they were playing two different sports. The Bears quarterback took advantage of every opportunity his team gave him, while Penix left too much on the field. With all the offensive firepower on its roster, Atlanta should be suited for a shootout. But when the game script gets out of hand, and the offense can’t spam outside zone runs for Robinson, things just fall apart. As a result, it felt like Penix was in third-and-long all day. He tends to struggle in those obvious passing situations, and that was certainly the case on Sunday. Penix didn’t play well on early downs, either.  He missed a few open throws that could have swung the momentum in Atlanta’s direction, and was lucky to escape the game without a round number in the interception column. Penix didn’t throw a pick, but his fumble essentially ended the game. In a different universe, this would have been another monster day for Robinson, who averaged 6.8 yards per carry but was limited to just nine carries with Atlanta in catch-up mode all day. Before the late rally, the Falcons offense couldn’t stay on the field, and special-teams blunders put even more pressure on the defense. Rookie return man Zach Branch fumbled twice, gifting Chicago short fields. The tough day for the Falcons got even worse in the third quarter when rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels, a third-round pick off to a promising start, suffered a scary neck injury that brought the game to a halt. FOX’s Tom Rinaldi shared a promising update during the broadcast: Daniels was fully conscious and had full movement in all his extremities before being transported to a local hospital. After dropping their first two divisional games, the Bears have little margin for error. Taking care of business in Atlanta was paramount. Things look a bit more promising after Sunday’s win. The Vikings still lead 5-0, but with the offense performing the way it is, it feels like only a matter of time before they fall back to the pack. The Bears look like the team most likely to catch them. The tie-breakers aren’t working in their favor right now, but they have the division’s second-best point differential, which is typically the strongest indicator of future performance. Whether Chicago can defend their division title could come down to the defense, which could be an issue. When this unit isn’t forcing turnovers, it looks awfully vulnerable. The run defense is full of holes, and the pass coverage breaks down too often. Getting Kyler Gordon back on the field will help create big plays—as it did Sunday—but defensive coordinator Dennis Allen needs to find down-to-down consistency if this team wants to contend for a Super Bowl. Even if that doesn’t happen, the Bears have an offense that will keep it any game. Detroit’s the only other team that can say that, but the Lions defense has even more holes.