ATLANTA (AP) Caleb Williams had been “itching” on the sideline while missing three straight games.
Finally cleared to play, Williams performed as if determined to make up for lost time.
Williams completed his first 12 passes in his return from a hamstring injury, D’Andre Swift ran for two touchdowns and the Chicago Bears beat the Atlanta Falcons 31-23 on Sunday.
“You’re itching on the sideline during the season,” Williams said. “I’ve had a hamstring injury before, but it was at the end of the year. I had three weeks to be able to get back and play. And so being able sit back and recover, recover, recover … and when I get back just to show who I am and who we are.”
Williams said he “felt comfortable from the rip.”
The Bears led 31-7 before holding off Atlanta’s comeback attempt in the final quarter.
Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon, who was activated from the physically unable to perform list before the game in his return from a calf injury, had three sacks and two forced fumbles. Gordon’s big day was capped by a sack of Michael Penix Jr. and forced fumble with 2:54 remaining and the Bears protecting a 31-23 lead. The fumble was recovered by Devin Bush at the Atlanta 28.
Gordon was limited by a groin injury to three regular-season games and two playoff games last season before suffering the calf injury which delayed his 2026 debut.
“I asked him if he was ready to go,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said of his update with Gordon this week. “He said ‘absolutely’ and he certainly was.”
The Bears ran out the clock inside the Atlanta 5.
Williams was both mobile and accurate in his impressive return for the Bears (4-2). He opened the game by completing 6 of 6 passes for 64 yards, including a 14-yard scoring pass to Colston Loveland, on Chicago’s opening drive.
Williams was 12 of 12 for 142 yards before throwing his first incompletion in the second quarter. Though the Bears won two of three games with Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum filing in at quarterback, Williams’ return sparked the offense. He completed 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards with one touchdown.
“I didn’t know that I went 30 for 36, and so I’ve got to go obviously back and watch the tape,” Williams said when asked if this was his best game. “I missed a couple things.”
Penix completed 19 of 33 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns for Atlanta (2-4) after leaving last week’s 30-23 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens with a rib injury.
The Bears’ strong start diminished the effectiveness of Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, who had only nine carries for 61 yards.
“We just can’t get off a schedule like that,” Penix said. “We’ve got to find a way to start fast so that we can keep Bijan in the game, keep the running backs and the running game going so that we can go out there execute things in the pass game as well.”
Penix threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson in the second quarter. The perfectly placed back-shoulder fade pass cut the Bears’ lead to 14-7, but a fumbled fair catch attempt by Zachariah Branch gave Chicago possession at the Atlanta 10 late in the first half. Branch also lost a fumble on a kickoff return late in the third quarter.
The Falcons didn’t score again until Penix found Kyle Pitts on a 10-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter. Penix then completed a pass to Branch for the 2-point play.
Roschon Johnson’s lost fumble set up Penix’s second scoring pass to Pitts with 5:41 remaining. After leading 31-7, Chicago’s advantage was trimmed to 31-23 on Penix’s 2-point pass to Drake London.
Chicago overcame 12 penalties for 133 yards. Wide receiver Jahdae Walker was ejected in the fourth quarter after being called for a personal foul for head-butting Atlanta’s Chris Blair.
“We just got to be more aware of it and play cleaner football with our hands and things of that nature,” Johnson said. “So what we’ll look at that. We had some penalty issues early in the season. Last few weeks we cleaned those up significantly. This one is kind of back up again.”
The strong start by Williams and the Bears meant a slow start for the Falcons.
“We talked at length about starting fast in this ball game, and we did not,” said Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski. “That’s on me and our and our staff. We’ve got to get that fixed because that’s when we just put ourselves in the hole.”
Bears: DB Cam Lewis was evaluated for a concussion in the second quarter. RB Kyle Monangai (thumb, toe) was inactive. RG Jonah Jackson was ruled doubtful to return with a hip injury in the third quarter.
Falcons: ILB Kendal Daniels was carted off the field midway through the third quarter after making a helmet-first tackle on tight end Colston Loveland. Daniels’ head snapped back and Falcons players circled Daniels as he was strapped onto the stretcher and driven off the field. He was officially ruled out with a neck injury and the Falcons announced he was alert and had movement in all extremities and was being evaluated at Grady Hospital in Atlanta . … ILB Divine Deablo (arm) was ruled out in the second quarter. CB Avieon Terrell (left shoulder) left the game in the second quarter. DB Billy Bowman Jr. was ruled doubtful with a hamstring injury.
Bears: Host New England on Thursday night.
Falcons: Host San Francisco next Sunday.
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