Bear Digest

Caleb Williams headlines Bears' studs and duds following epic Week 3 win over Cowboys

For the first time this season, the Chicago Bears put together a complete game and left with a win.
Pete Martuneac|
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Chicago Bears

For a fleeting moment on Sunday afternoon, Chicago Bears fans had glimpses of an impending doom. Despite an electric start to the game thanks to a crazy fumble recovery by Tyrique Stevenson and a red hot Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze connection, the Dallas Cowboys had just pulled even at 14 points, which included a successful two-point conversion. Many fans surely had flashbacks to Week 1 when the Bears gave up an 11-point lead at home to lose the game.

Luckily for Bears fans, it really was different this time. The Cowboys did not score again for the rest of the game as the Bears put up 17 unanswered points en route to a dominant Week 3 win over the Cowboys.

With the Bears finally in the 'win' column, let's separate the studs and the duds from this performance.

Stud: Caleb Williams

Chicago's success or failures this year rest largely on the shoulders of their second-year quarterback, and so he gets top billing today after his dominant game. Williams completed 19 of 28 passes for 298 yards and 4 touchdowns. Most importantly, he finished with zero sacks and zero giveaways.

There are critics that say Caleb Williams can't play in structure, but he proved them wrong on Sunday. He was in full control of Ben Johnson's offense and, apart from a couple of snafus, played and won from the pocket. That's what great quarterbacks do, and now it's up to Williams to build on this.

Stud: Ben Johnson

Give the head coach his due, he called an excellent game on Sunday and included some of the trickery for which he's become famous. The best example was the flea-flicker that led to Chicago's second touchdown of the day and got Soldier Field rocking. For a first win as a head coach, this one was about as good as it gets.

Dud: Nahshon Wright

It's hard to find any duds from today's performance, but there were a couple, chief among them being Nahshon Wright. I get it, he's an undrafted rookie who's only playing because of injuries in the secondary, but he was getting absolutely bullied by Dallas' pass game in the first half and was a big reason why the Cowboys were able to stay within striking distance for so long.

Stud: Rome Odunze

Concurrent with what appears to be a Caleb Williams breakout season is the emergence of Rome Odunze. With 3 catches for 62 yards and a touchdown added to his season total, it's fair to wonder now whether Odunze has surpassed DJ Moore as WR1 in Chicago.

Stud: Tremaine Edmunds

The big middle linebacker was an absolute unit on Sunday, everywhere at once and making plays at every level. He finished the day with 15 total tackles, a game high for both teams, and not one but two critical 4th quarter interceptions, both of which ended what appeared to be promising drivers for Dallas.

Dud: D'Andre Swift

Swift had his moments, but at the end of the day he averaged just 2.5 yards per carry. That's not even close to acceptable. If he can't get going soon, the Bears may find it worthwhile to give the rookie Kyle Monangai a shot at the starting running back role.

Stud: Tyrique Stevenson

Credit where it's due. Stevenson has often been the villain after Bears games, but he deserves his flowers for jumpstarting this game with an incredible fumble recovery on the Cowboys' opening drive. The Bears' offense had just been run off the field with an ugly three-and-out to start the game and things could have gotten out of hand in a hurry if not for Stevenson's head's up lay.

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Pete Martuneac
PETE MARTUNEAC

A former Marine and Purdue Boilermaker, Pete has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2022 as a senior contributor on BearsTalk. He lives with his wife, two kids and loyal dog.

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