Bears News: Williams throws four touchdowns in win over Jags in London |
LONDON—It has been a long time since the Chicago Bears (4-2) have been two games above .500, and this hasn't been since Matt Nagy was head coach. That is hard to believe when you look at some of the rosters this team has put together, but they are starting to make believers out of most fans.
Traveling across the pond to London, where the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) were waiting, the Bears were coming off back-to-back wins and were looking to make it three straight wins with their buy week lingering. Despite falling behind early, the Bears took over from there. Caleb Williams threw for 226 yards and four TDs, and then the Bears took it to the Jaguars 35-16. Williams did manage to throw his first interception in three weeks, but he has continued to improve each week, and you are starting to see why everyone felt he was the best quarterback in this entire class. Things got off to a slow start offensively for the Bears, as both of their first-quarter possessions resulted in three-and-outs, while the Jaguars put together a 14-play 57-yard drive that took over eight minutes off the clock. Trevor Lawrence played a huge role in that drive as he was flinging the ball over, with Evan Engram hauling in a 14-yard completion to move the ball near midfield. Lawrence also used his legs to pick up another first down while a pair of completions to Brian Thomas and Christian Kirk moved the ball inside the only to have Cam Little bang home a 30-yard field goal to give the Jags a 3-0 lead. It was the first time all season that the Jaguars scored on their opening possession, while this marked the sixth straight game where the Bears trailed at least one. That was about the only bad thing that happened to Chicago. They ended the first half with 14 unanswered points, and they put together two second-quarter scoring drives. After not getting a single first down in the first quarter, D'Andre Swift changed all that as his 12-yard gain on the Bears first drive of the second quarter gave Chicago their first first down of the game, with Williams and Roschon Johnson following. Swift paced the Bears rushing attack with 91 yards and has more than 300 yards rushing in his past three games. The big play of the drive came after the Johnson first down, as Williams not only pumped a fake once but twice before finding Cole Kmet wide open over the middle for the 31-yard touchdown, the first of two touchdowns on the day. One drive later, the Bears were at it again, as Williams hooked up with Rome Odunze for 28 yards, only to have the drive stall with an Andrew Cisco interception. With the Bears defense coming away with another three and out, Williams and the offense got right back to work and needed less than three minutes to move the ball 85 yards. The ground game got things started with Swift picking up a first down on the ground before Williams broke loose for a massive gain to keep the chains moving. Williams then went to the air to find Odunze and Keenan Allen before using his legs for another first down. One play later, Williams found Kmet for the second time in the quarter as the Bears closed out the first half with a 14-3. As if the first half wasn't good enough, why not make a massive play on defense to start the second half as Lawrence found Engram for 24 yards before T.J. Edwards punched the ball out for a fumble, only to have Elijah Hicks recover. The Bears took that fumble and capitalized on it, with Williams finding Swift for a nearly 20-yard gain before Allen hauled in the Williams's third TD of the game to make things 21-3. That touchdown was the turning point of the game as four of the next five drives resulted in TDs, including the first one of the game from the Jaguars on their next possession. Kirk and Gabe Davis played a role, as did Engram, who continued to have his way with the Chicago secondary. Davis would cap off that drive with a 21-yard TD to pull the Jags within 21-10. Not only did Chicago respond with a 10-play drive resulting in Allen's second TD, but J Blackwell picked off Lawrence on the Jaguars' next possession, setting the Bears up with great field position. Three plays later, it was 35-10, as Williams found Kmet for 27 of his team-high 70 yards to move the ball inside the 10. Two plays later, Swift capped off the drive with his one-yard TD, breaking the game wide open. It was at this point in the game where you felt like it was well in hand, but the Bears defense got a bit lazy on their next possession, resulting in another Davis TD to pull the Jags within 35-16. Chicago had a chance to extend their next possession only to have Cairo Santos 43-yard attempt blocked. Regardless, the Bears built a big enough lead that the field goal wouldn't have mattered as Chicago moved to 4-2 with a third straight win. "I always look at the (quarterback rating), and man it was good." "Two touchdowns on the day (for Keenan) ... he kept the ball and had a little tea party." Coming home with a dub ‼️ pic.twitter.com/0JrBQVwN57 "(Spent) a good amount of time away from your home, away from your bed, my dog ... being able to take that 8-9 hour flight with a win, going into a bye week it feels great." Welcome to the partyyyyy pic.twitter.com/TZsCcuU4La Caleb Williams passer rating by week 🎯
Coach Eberflus on Caleb Williams' 124.4 rating. pic.twitter.com/HIIFNjbIW0
Rome Odunze on Keenan Allen's big day. pic.twitter.com/cvCS5XIt1f
Caleb Williams following today's @ChicagoBears win. pic.twitter.com/89jjIa0rFg
Week 1: 51.0
Week 2: 55.7
Week 3: 80.8
Week 4: 106.6
Week 5: 126.2
WEEK 6: 124.4 pic.twitter.com/LRJ44sQaGy
