One week after getting embarrassed in Green Bay, the Bears answered with one of their most complete performances of the season against Atlanta. This article breaks down Caleb Williams’ dominant return, Kyler Gordon’s game-changing impact, and why Thursday night’s matchup with the Patriots may be the biggest measuring-stick game of Chicago’s season so far.
Caleb Williams Looked Like a Franchise Quarterback Again
After missing time with a hamstring injury, Caleb Williams returned and immediately reminded everyone why the Bears’ offense is different when he’s under center. Williams eclipsed the 300-yard mark through the air and consistently carved up Atlanta’s defense from the pocket.
Most impressive was his efficiency when protected, completing 26 of 26 passes from a clean pocket. That’s the type of surgical performance that forces defenses to defend every inch of the field and gives Ben Johnson the flexibility to call the entire playbook.
One week after the Bears got absolutely dog-walked in Lambeau, their franchise quarterback reminded everyone why expectations are so high in Chicago. When Williams is healthy and playing at this level, the Bears aren’t just a competitive football team. They’re a team nobody in the NFC is going to be excited to play.
Bears Controlled the Game Through Possession
If you want to know why the Bears left Atlanta with a victory, start with the possession battle. Chicago held the football for 40:08 compared to Atlanta’s 19:52 and ran 73 offensive plays to the Falcons’ 50. That’s a staggering 23-play advantage and a perfect example of complementary football.
The Bears consistently stayed ahead of the chains, converted key situations, and kept Atlanta’s offense watching from the sideline. Rather than getting dragged into a back-and-forth game, Chicago dictated the pace from the opening quarter and rarely let Atlanta get comfortable.
What’s even more impressive is how they accomplished it. The Bears entered the week as the NFL’s top rushing offense, yet finished with fewer than 100 rushing yards. Instead of leaning on the run game, Caleb Williams and the passing attack took control while the offense methodically moved the chains and sustained long drives.
At this point, controlling possession isn’t just a one-game trend. Through six weeks, the Bears have been the best team in football at keeping their defense off the field. Chicago is averaging 23.7 more offensive snaps than defensive snaps per game, easily the best mark in the NFL. The next closest team, the Arizona Cardinals, sit at just +8.5. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Titans rank last at -14.0.
That’s a ridiculous gap.
It’s also exactly what Ben Johnson wants. The offense stays on the field, the defense stays fresh, and opposing offenses struggle to find any rhythm. The Bears didn’t just win the possession battle against Atlanta. They continued a season-long trend of controlling games by owning the clock, dictating the tempo, and forcing opponents to play on their terms.
Unsung Hero: Kyler Gordon Was an Absolute Wrecking Ball
While Caleb Williams will rightfully get most of the attention after throwing for over 300 yards, the guy who may have completely changed this game was Kyler Gordon.
Coming back from injury, Gordon turned in one of the most dominant performances of his career. He finished with three sacks, multiple forced fumbles, and several tackles behind the line of scrimmage, seemingly showing up every time the Falcons thought they had something going offensively. Whether he was coming off the edge, flying downhill against the run, or blowing up plays in the backfield, Atlanta had no answer for him.
The box score is impressive enough, but it doesn’t fully capture how disruptive he was. Gordon consistently forced the Falcons off schedule and created the type of negative plays that put an offense behind the chains. Every great defense needs a tone-setter, and on Sunday that was Gordon.
That’s what makes him so valuable in Dennis Allen’s defense. Most slot corners can cover. Gordon can cover, blitz, tackle, force turnovers, and completely alter a game plan. There aren’t many players in the NFL who impact a game in as many ways as he does.
After watching the defense get picked apart in a week ago, the Bears desperately needed someone to bring energy back to the unit. Gordon didn’t just provide a spark. He looked like a man possessed. If he continues playing at this level, the Bears defense becomes a completely different animal moving forward.
Looking Ahead
The Bears got exactly what they needed in Atlanta. Caleb Williams looked healthy and comfortable in his return. The offense controlled the football for more than 40 minutes. Kyler Gordon delivered one of the best performances of his career. Most importantly, the Bears played winning football for all four quarters.
The concern heading into Thursday Night Football isn’t talent. It’s discipline.
Even in a convincing win, Chicago continued to commit costly penalties at inopportune times. Against Atlanta, the Bears were good enough to overcome them. Against New England on a short week, giving away free yards and extending drives could become a much bigger issue.
Now the focus shifts to the Patriots. Can Caleb Williams build on one of his best performances of the season? Can the offense continue controlling games through possession? Will Kyler Gordon and the defense keep creating game-changing plays? And can the Bears finally eliminate the self-inflicted mistakes that continue to hold them back?
Beating Atlanta was important because it showed the Packers loss wasn’t the beginning of a collapse. Beating New England would show this team is finally learning how to stack good performances together. The Bears have an opportunity to build real momentum heading into the heart of their schedule, but they’ll need to play cleaner football to do it.
Bears vs. Patriots Preview: Time to Find Out Who the Bears Really Are
For six weeks, Bears fans have seen flashes. We’ve seen Caleb Williams look like a superstar. We’ve seen Ben Johnson’s offense suffocate opponents with long drives and dominant time of possession. We’ve seen Dennis Allen’s defense take over games. We’ve also seen periods of inconsistency, too many penalties, and a team that still feels like it’s trying to figure out exactly how good it can become.
That’s why Thursday night feels different. The Patriots aren’t coming to Soldier Field as some rebuilding team. They’re 4-2, winners of three straight, and just one season removed from a Super Bowl appearance. This is the type of game playoff teams win and contenders control.
For the first time all season, I’m starting to wonder whether these Bears might be capable of something bigger than simply making the playoffs. Thursday night is a chance to find out.
Caleb Williams vs. Drake Maye Is Becoming the NFL’s Next Great Quarterback Rivalry
Let’s be honest. This game starts and ends with Caleb Williams and Drake Maye. These two have known each other for years. They’ve attended camps together, grown up in the same quarterback circles, entered the NFL through the same draft class (Caleb 1st, Drake 3rd), and now find themselves leading two franchises with legitimate playoff aspirations.
This will be the second meeting between the two quarterbacks as professionals. The first came on November 10, 2024, when Maye and the Patriots left Soldier Field with a 19-3 victory. In that game, Maye threw for 184 yards and a touchdown while Williams was held to 120 passing yards and was sacked nine times.
Let us not forget, this was peak Jarod Mayo and Matt Eberflus trying to out stupid the other. The dark and final days of the ‘Flus era, yikes. Things look very different now.
Maye enters Thursday night with 1,463 passing yards and 11 touchdowns through six games while helping lead New England to a 4-2 record. He was MVP runner-up a season ago and guided the Patriots to the Super Bowl. The question here is, has Maye been able to put his abysmal first three weeks of the 2026 campaign behind him? He had 1 touchdown, 6 interceptions, 3 fumbles, and sacked 9 times. This is an opportunity for Drake to prove he is all the way back.
Meanwhile, Williams is coming off arguably his best performance of the season. Against Atlanta, he looked completely healthy, threw for over 300 yards, and completed every single pass from a clean pocket.
For Bears fans, this matchup isn’t about proving Williams belongs in the conversation. He’s already there. It’s about proving he belongs at the front of it. If Caleb can build off Sunday and dazzle us with another 300+ yard passing performance, and more touchdowns, he will start to enter premier quarterback status in the NFL.
The Numbers Say the Bears Can Win This Game
The interesting thing about this matchup is just how similar these teams are on paper. New England is averaging 22.7 points per game (18th), while Chicago is averaging 25.0 (12th). Both defenses are allowing fewer than 20 points per game, and both rank among the NFL’s top 10 units defensively.
Where the Bears separate themselves is on the ground and in situational football. Chicago leads the NFL in rushing at 160.7 yards per game, while New England ranks sixth at 130.7. The Bears also own the league’s top third-down offense, while the Patriots rank 12th. Defensively, Dennis Allen’s group has been equally impressive, ranking second in opponent third-down conversion percentage (25.8%), trailing only Minnesota. Getting off the field on third down has become one of the defining strengths of this defense.
What stands out most to me, though, is something I’ve talked about all season: possession. No team in football does a better job of keeping its defense off the field than Chicago. Through six weeks, the Bears are averaging an NFL-best 36:01 time of possession per game, more than three minutes better than the next closest team. That’s a staggering advantage in today’s NFL. If the Bears control the clock again on Thursday night, they’ll put tremendous pressure on New England to make the most of its limited opportunities.
The Patriots, however, are built similarly. They’re seventh in the league in time of possession at 31:17 per game, which sets up one of the most intriguing battles of the week. Both teams want to dictate the pace, run the football, and keep their defenses fresh.
That brings us to what could ultimately decide the game: turnovers. New England enters the matchup averaging 2.2 turnovers per game, the second-most in the NFL, while Chicago is averaging 1.8, ranking 6th. The Bears may have advantages in several key areas, but none of them will matter if they give away possessions. Whichever team protects the football and wins the possession battle will likely be the one celebrating Thursday night.
Injuries Could Swing the Outcome
Both teams are dealing with injuries entering Thursday night, but the burden falls much heavier on New England.
For Chicago, the biggest concern is T.J. Edwards, who is listed as doubtful with a hamstring injury. Kyle Monangai remains out, Jack Sanborn is unavailable due to a concussion, and Tyrique Stevenson is questionable. The good news is Jonah Jackson is expected to play after leaving the Falcons game early with a hip injury.
Edwards is the one that worries me most. He’s the quarterback of the defense, and replacing his leadership and communication is never easy, especially on a short week against a talented quarterback like Drake Maye. D’Marco Jackson will once again be called upon to step into a larger role.
The Patriots, however, are dealing with a much more significant challenge. Cornerbacks Carlton Davis III, Channing Canada, and Karon Prunty are all out, leaving New England thin in the secondary. On offense, starting guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and center Ben Brown are unavailable, further weakening an offensive line that already has question marks entering this matchup.
And that’s why this feels like a game the Bears need to seize control of early.
A depleted secondary should create favorable matchups for Caleb Williams and Chicago’s passing attack. An undermanned offensive line should give Dennis Allen opportunities to dial up pressure and force Drake Maye into uncomfortable situations. The Patriots deserve credit for fighting through adversity, but contenders don’t apologize for who lines up on the other sideline. If the Bears are serious about being more than just a playoff team, they need to take advantage of a battered Patriots roster and make those absences matter.
The Penalties and Ball Security Issues Still Concern Me
As impressive as the Bears looked in Atlanta, there’s still one issue I can’t ignore: discipline. Chicago committed the sixth-most penalties in the NFL in 2025, and while things have improved under Ben Johnson, the self-inflicted mistakes are still showing up too often.
The Bears have already been flagged 44 times through six games this season, with offensive holding accounting for 13 of those penalties. Against most teams, you can survive a few mistakes. Against the defending AFC Champion Patriots on Thursday Night Football, those mistakes can be the difference between winning and losing. Long-yardage situations, stalled drives, and free first downs are exactly the kind of opportunities good teams capitalize on.
Ball security is another area that needs to improve. Bears quarterbacks have combined for five interceptions through six games, with Tyson Bagent accounting for three of them. The running game has also put the ball on the ground too often, fumbling four times and losing three, including two lost fumbles by D’Andre Swift. The receiving corps hasn’t been immune either, as both Luther Burden III and Rome Odunze have recorded a fumble this season.
The Bears have the talent to beat New England. They’ve proven that over the first six weeks by fielding one of the league’s most balanced teams. But if Chicago wants to leave Soldier Field with a statement victory on Thursday night, it has to clean up the penalties and protect the football. Giving extra possessions to a hot Patriots team is a dangerous game, and it’s one the Bears can’t afford to play.
Why This Game Feels Bigger Than Week 7
Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Maybe this is simply another regular-season game in October. But I don’t think Bears fans are crazy if they’re starting to feel something different about this team.
For years we’ve watched other franchises make “the leap” while Chicago searched for answers. Now the Bears appear to have a franchise quarterback. They have a head coach who understands modern offensive football and has quickly established a winning culture. They have an identity built around controlling games physically, mentally, and with the football. Most importantly, they never look out of a fight.
That’s how contenders are built. Last season, this team exceeded expectations by reaching the NFC Divisional Round and pushing the Rams to overtime. At the time, that felt like proof the Bears were ahead of schedule. Now? That should be the baseline. That should be the floor.
The conversation around this team has to evolve. The Patriots already have the league’s respect because of what they accomplished a year ago. The Bears are still earning theirs. Thursday night presents an opportunity to change that. Not by winning. By winning convincingly.
Because if Caleb Williams outplays Drake Maye, if the offense controls the game the way it has all season, and if Chicago handles a red-hot Patriots team the way legitimate contenders are supposed to, then it’s time to stop talking about whether the Bears can make the playoffs.
It’s time to start talking about how far they will go. Not a Wild Card appearance. Not sneaking into the Divisional Round. The Bears proved last season their floor is competing for a spot in the NFC Championship Game. The ceiling is much higher. The ceiling is representing the NFC in February. The ceiling is Los Angeles. The ceiling is the Super Bowl.
And if Chicago takes care of business Thursday night, a lot more people are going to start believing it.
Prediction
Maybe it’s the way Caleb Williams has looked since returning. Maybe it’s the confidence this team is playing with. Or maybe it’s because for the first time in years, Bears fans can genuinely feel something building. Whatever it is, this game feels different.
I think Caleb Williams keeps rolling. I think Kyler Gordon follows up his dominant performance in Atlanta with another game-changing night. Most importantly, I think Soldier Field reminds the football world what it sounds like when Chicago has something worth believing in.
This won’t just be another primetime game. It will be the Bears’ first home game since the passing of Mike Ditka, a man whose impact on this franchise still echoes through every corner of Soldier Field. There will be emotion in the building before kickoff, during the game, and long after the final whistle. The crowd will be loud. The energy will be real. And the Bears will have a chance to honor one of their legends the best way possible: with a win.
For the first time in a long time, a primetime game at Soldier Field feels like more than just another game. It feels like a moment. A chance to keep proving this team is turning a corner. A chance to strengthen its grip on the playoff race. A chance to make a city believe again. And on a night dedicated to one of the greatest Bears of all time, it feels fitting that Chicago delivers.
