Caleb Williams threw four touchdown passes and the Bears forced three Cowboys turnovers in the fourth quarter to defeat Dallas 31-14 on Sunday in Chicago.
The Bears brought the fireworks early to get head coach Ben Johnson his first career win and improve to 1-2.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott completed 31 of 40 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown, but was relieved by backup Joe Milton late in the fourth quarter, trailing by three scores. Milton was picked off in the end zone with 52 seconds remaining to close out the game.
Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds intercepted Prescott twice in the fourth quarter to thwart a comeback bid. He snagged the second as Prescott tried to find wide receiver Jalen Tolbert in the endzone with 4:47 left to short-circuit a 15-play, 91-yard Dallas drive.
Without an effective ground game (29 carries, 87 yards), the Bears thrived on takeaways and big plays.
Williams’ first five completions went for 135 yards and two touchdowns, a 35-yarder to Rome Odunze and a 65-yard bomb down the left sideline to rookie receiver Luther Burden III to stake the Bears to a 14-3 lead. Burden was three full steps behind Cowboys safety Malik Hooker, who bit on the flea-flicker run fake, as Williams caught the pitch and connected on a rainbow toss to crank up the volume at Soldier Field.
Prescott worked mostly underneath and down the middle of the field after losing CeeDee Lamb to an ankle injury in the first half. Lamb did not return, and the Cowboys were forced to throw more jabs without the threat of a knockout punch.
Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson caught 13 passes for 82 yards. Burden led the Bears with 101 yards on three catches.
Dallas (1-2) heads home for a date with Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers (2-1) next week.
Chicago was not strong against the run, but ripped the ball away from Cowboys running back Javonte Williams at the end of a 22-yard gain in the first quarter and came up with two takeaways in a 10-minute span in the fourth. Williams averaged 7.6 yards per carry on 10 rushing attempts.
Down 17 points less than 90 seconds into the fourth quarter, Prescott threw a would-be completion that hit George Pickens in the hands at the Chicago 28 and bounced into the arms of a diving Edmunds for the Bears’ second takeaway.
To end a drive that consumed nearly 10 minutes over 19 plays, Chicago rolled the dice with 14 seconds left in the third quarter. Eschewing a short field-goal try to keep the offense on the field on fourth-and-goal from the 4, Williams leaked out of the pocket to his right and, as he crossed the hashmarks, ripped his fourth touchdown pass of the game, a laser to wide receiver DJ Moore standing alone in the back of the end zone. The score gave the Bears a 31-14 lead.
Bears tight end Colston Loveland had a 31-yard reception in the first quarter. He left the game in the second half with a hip injury.
–Field Level Media
