Caleb Williams threw a touchdown pass on his first possession since returning from injury. Per r/nfl's highlight post, it went to tight end Colston Loveland. Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith, in a piece Yahoo Sports also ran, wrote that Williams "showed no sign of the hamstring injury that has kept him out since Week 2."
The game at Atlanta is still in progress, so everything below is provisional. With 5:45 left in the second quarter, the Bears lead the Falcons 14-7 in the game. Chicago scored both of its touchdowns in the first quarter. Our box score has Williams at 14 of 16 for 156 yards and one touchdown, a 128.1 rating, with no sacks and no interceptions. He has one carry for no yards and fumbled once, but Chicago recovered it. Loveland has three catches for 36 yards and the touchdown. D'Andre Swift has the other Bears touchdown, on the ground.
8:34 - 3rd
Chicago has controlled the game so far. It has 11 first downs to Atlanta's 2, 187 yards to 81, and 17:07 of possession to 7:01. The Bears are 3 of 5 on third down and 2 of 2 in the red zone. Atlanta is 0 of 3 on third down and 0 of 1 on fourth. Michael Penix Jr. is 5 of 10 for 42 yards.
The contrast with Williams' last start is large. In the Week 2 loss to Minnesota he went 15 of 26 for 138 yards with an interception and was sacked three times for 20 yards. That was the second of his two games this season. In Week 1 at Carolina he threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns. His season line through those two games was 36 of 55 for 407 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and five sacks. He also ran for two touchdowns in the opener.
Chicago could use the lift. The Bears are 3-2 and third in the NFC North, and they come in on a one-game losing streak after a 31-7 loss at Green Bay on Oct. 11. Before that they beat the Jets 23-12 and the Eagles 27-7. Atlanta is 2-3 and second in the NFC South, also coming off a loss, 30-23 to Baltimore. Windy City Gridiron's game thread, by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr., said defensive lineman Shemar Turner and a defensive back whose name is cut off in our feed, apparently Kyler Gordon, were also due back. Gordon has three tackles-for-loss-type plays on the board only as one tackle for loss; Turner has no stat line in this game yet.
The Bears host New England on Thursday, Oct. 22, on a short week. Atlanta hosts San Francisco on Oct. 25.
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