Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears saved their season last Sunday afternoon... for the time being. Limping after an 0-2 start -- including disastrous divisional losses to Minnesota and Detroit -- the Bears played strong offense and got some timely stops and takeaways to rout the Dallas Cowboys to get to 1-2. Johnson's first victory as head coach was fitting: an offensive masterclass where Williams broke out for arguably the best game of his young career.
The Bears rode their wave of good feelings into today's matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. Chicago would need yet another great coaching performance, given they were without Darnell Wright, Grady Jarrett, and Colston Loveland today, already on top of Jaylon Johnson and T.J. Edwards.
Win, and get to their early bye week 2-2 and very much alive. Lose... and go into the bye REELING with a much-anticipated primetime rematch against Jayden Daniels and Washington looming in two weeks. Talk about a pivotal game.
The Bears desperately tried to give the game away again and again and again... and eventually pulled it back just in the nick of time. A last-minute drive by Caleb Williams to put the Bears in front and a Josh Blackwell field goal block sealed an unbelievable road win to get to 2-2.
I shared my in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the game below. Follow me on X @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Thoughts and Observations
1. (PREGAME) -- The Bears' roster is somewhat of a MASH unit right now. The early bye week usually isn't great. But for this team, it might be coming at the perfect time...
Theo Benedet starting in place of Darnell Wright ... the Bears better have a big schematic plan for Maxx Crosby.
2. Well, this game is starting a bit like the last game. The Bears got the ball first and promptly went three-and-out. Caleb Williams did a nice job finding his outlet after Thomas Booker blew up Drew Dalman on third down. But D'Andre Swift gator-armed the pass and it was a drop...a clean catch probably converts.
The defense stopped a driving Raiders offense with an INT -- a really nice read and drive by Kevin Byard on a Geno Smith pass and he returned it to the Raiders' 24. Montez Sweat with a really nice pressure to force the throw slightly early.
And the Bears did convert the turnover into points! But they went backwards, thanks to... you guessed it: Maxx Crosby. Simply dominated that drive with a TFL and two tipped passes. 3-0 Bears after the Cairo Santos FG.
3. Seriously, Crosby is unbelievable. First, Andrew Billings with two unreal plays to blow up the LOS and to help the Bears stuff the Raiders on back to back "& 1" plays -- including a forced fumble on 4th down by Ashton Jeanty to set the Bears up near the red zone.
But then, Crosby took over again and tipped a ball to himself to intercept it and turn away Chicago. The Bears' defense starts the game forcing two turnovers and get just three points out of it. Those are the things that will hurt them later.
...
And just like that, the Raiders have the lead as Ashton Jeanty scored on a flare route at the end of the first quarter. Geno Smith hurt them with his legs twice going down the field.
4. This running game is unlike one I have ever seen ... in a bad way. The blocking is getting completely cooked by Vegas' front, and D'Andre Swift isn't helping matters with his inability to break tackles. Caleb Williams has already taken multiple sacks because the pass-blocking is also struggling. And as a result, the Bears have turned three takeaways into... six total points.
Raiders lead 7-6 with 4.5 minutes left and Vegas gets the ball after halftime.
A fairly demoralizing first half on offense for Chicago. I did not expect this.
5. Cole Kmet had the game's biggest play up until that moment -- a brutal drop that would've set up 1st and Goal on a drive the Bears ended up punting on.
And then Ashton Jeanty took the first snap from scrimmage after the Bears closed it to 7-6 and motored 64 yards to the house. Again -- the run defense being this bad and the rushing offense being this bad? Unbelievable.
14-6 Raiders in a game where the Bears are +2 in the turnover margin right now... though I would say having to punt on the Kmet Drop drive is pretty much a turnover as well.
Awful. The Bears are staring 1-3 and a long, long bye week in the face, with the way they're playing right now.
6. A decent response just before halftime to pull to 14-9. Caleb Williams converted a couple third downs to put the Bears in range, but another awful drop near the sideline by Kmet and a bad high throw to Rome Odunze (where DJ Moore appeared to be streaking open?) led to missed opportunities.
As badly as the Bears have played on offense... being down five is OK? But the defense needs to stand tall coming out of halftime.
<HALFTIME>
7. Tyrique Stevenson's 2025 season turnaround continues. He has a PBU, a fumble recovery and now a beautifully executed trail technique INT to open the second half. A diving effort, very similar to Byard's second INT. He has really stepped up in Jaylon Johnson's absence. This defense needed it.
8. The offense REALLY tried to come away empty on yet another turnover from the Raiders, but Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze wouldn't let them. Williams found DJ Moore and Odunze to convert after a facemask on D'Andre Swift. And then a false start on Swift later in the drive set up a 3rd and 12.
Caleb then read a flat-footed safety and fired a missile to Odunze coming open on a post to put the Bears up with their first touchdown of the game. Just players making plays in big moments. 16-14, Bears.
9. The disparity in running backs is on full display at Allegiant Stadium. Ashton Jeanty walked the Bears right down the field -- with the Bears' DL putting absolutely zero resistance. For a unit that has so much money and draft capital invested in it... that's just not an acceptable response. A bruising drive that drained much of the third quarter. 21-16, Raiders.
10. Cole Kmet is playing his way into a reduced role based on today's performance. Multiple drops. A bad false start on a 4th and 1. Just horrendous football from the highly paid local kid. The Bears need winning football players and ... this is losing football.
Not to be outdone -- Drew Dalman with a horrific and early snap in the red zone led to a loss of 18 and another FG attempt instead of an attempt at a touchdown. So, so many mistakes today.
11. The run defense is truly historically bad. The Raiders are up over 230 yards of rushing midway through the fourth quarter and doing so with ease. Jeanty is making his Pro Bowl case with today's performance. I'd say they miss Edwards, but the DL is just not professional right now.
12. An unbelievable drive by Caleb Williams put the Bears up with 1:35 to go. Conversion after conversion in key situations gave the Bears the lead late. The two-point try didn't work, so the Raiders will have plenty of time to try to win it with a field goal.
But that's a huge drive in the arc of Williams' season.
13. The most insane ending. The most INSANE ending. After a horrific special teams play put the Raiders on their own 40+ yard line, the defense let them crawl into field goal range.
But a key stop by Byard on Ashton Jeanty on third down forced a field goal attempt that JOSH BLACKWELL BLOCKED! Unbelievable game, unbelievable ending for a Bears team that found a way to survive. Speechless. Truly speechless after watching a rollercoaster second half.
14. The Bears are 2-2. They did it. And now, that aforementioned painful bye week is upon us -- in good spirits! The next time the Bears take the field will be on Monday Night Football in a rematch of the loss that spiraled their season in 2024. Can this team get healthy and continue their turnaround?
Enjoy the bye week and some "stress free" football for the next couple weeks!
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