The Chicago Bears’ magical season continues, only this time, no magic was needed to take down the Pittsburgh Steelers, just a great late defensive stop. Down six starters in this game on defense, that unit stood tall and made timely plays to win. Caleb Williams threw for three touchdowns and the offense put up 31 points. Ben Johnson has this team at 8-3 and is still in sole control of the NFC North.
Caleb Williams bounces back
Caleb had his fair share of misses, and he made a disastrous mistake that resulted in a touchdown for the Steelers on a TJ Watt sack and forced fumble. Nonetheless, Caleb still made many really good plays in this game and picked this offense up. This was a step in the right direction for Caleb. He finished the day with 239 yards passing, 3 passing touchdowns, and a 104.3 passer rating. He’s still missing on the layups, but he can make so many dynamic moves on the field — it’s a beautiful sight to see. The run game was not as effective as usual, but when the offense needed a big carry, Kyle Monangai provided it, and he found the end zone for the third straight game this season.
Next man up on defense
The Bears defense came up big all game long, not just the final moments of this game. Nahshon Wright started the takeaway party with another spectacular interception, his fifth on the season. Wright also made many stops off the edge and was great in coverage all game long. Montez Sweat lived in the backfield, tallying up two sacks on the day. Creating consistent pressure and making his presence felt. Ironically, it was Sweat who was the dominant edge rusher in this game, not T.J. Watt or the other Steeler pass rushers.
D’Marco Jackson comes up big
It was a full team effort winning this football game, but a game ball should go to D’Marco Jackson for stepping up and not only being the play caller for this defense but also racking up 15 tackles and filling the void of both Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards. Jackson was flying all over the field, and he made a couple of impactful stops. Dennis Allen might have called his best game yet all season. This defense was aggressive, and with the game on the line, they won the football game instead of the offense. I cannot wait to see this team fully healthy on defense; it could get dangerous for the rest of the NFL.
Finding a way — again
Today’s game showed huge signs of a good football team, when you can win football games as depleted as the Bears were today. The Bears had backup linebackers, even getting hurt, it was reaching very concerning levels, for if the Bears were going to be able to have 11 players on defense, but they still won. This game had very meaningful implications, heading into a game against the Eagles, 8-3 as opposed to 7-4, are two big differences.
Coaches are leading the way
Credit to Ben Johnson, credit to Dennis Allen, and credit to Caleb Williams, all three looked to be primed to share success in Chicago for a very long time. This was the test, in my opinion; winning this game should kill all the noise about the Bears being a fluky team. Winning this consistency is really rare, and the way in which this team has won victories is even more rare. The Bears will be in control of the NFC North for another week, and they deserve every bit of the success they have gotten this season.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Bears, Caleb Williams win a game with slightly less drama than usual
Reporting by Micah Huff, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
