That was a fantastic and fun roller-coaster-of-emotions type of game, with so many lead changes and improbable moments.
On Sunday afternoon, the Chicago Bears beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 47-42. That was Chicago’s most points scored since 2018, when they put up 48. This was also the first time the Bears had ever won a game after allowing 42 points, and prior to this game, they had lost 50 straight when allowing 30 points.
Offensively, Chicago racked up 576 yards to 495 from Cincinnati, which is the
sixth most offensive yards gained in Chicago history, and their most since 1980.
The Bears had 30 first downs to 26 for Cincy, and those 30 are Chicago’s most first downs since 2016.
The Bears were 53.3% on third downs and 2 for 2 on fourth down, while the Bengals were 50.0% on third downs and 1 for 1 on fourth down.
Also, this is the first game all season in which the Bears had fewer penalty yards than their opponent: 7 flags for 43 yards for Chicago, to 7 for 49 for Cincinnati.
Chicago put up offensive numbers it hadn’t seen in a very long time, yet if you listened to the CBS broadcast, you would have heard analyst Adam Archuleta complaining about the Bears’ offense, or more specifically about quarterback Caleb Williams, throughout the game. Now, if he wanted to gripe about the Bears’ defense, that’s one thing — Joe Flacco had 470 yards passing — but harping on Williams seemed like there was something else going on.
At one point in the game, after Caleb hit DJ Moore for a first down, Archuleta complained that he didn’t throw to the third-string tight end. He also wondered late in the game, when the offense was well over 400 total yards and had 34 points, if anyone on Chicago’s offense could step up. He also had an issue nearly every time Caleb scrambled, wanting him to run more instead of trying to keep his eyes up and look for a receiver downfield.
More on Williams’ game below,
Let’s look at the Bears’ playing time breakdowns and a few individual stats from the game.
OFFENSE
Caleb Williams is the first player in NFL history with at least 275 passing yards, 50 rushing yards, and 20 receiving yards in a single game, and he’s also the first player ever with at least 20 completions and multiple receptions in a game in NFL history.
Williams was also pretty good at bringing the Bears back when trailing.
Chicago’s rookies also made history on Sunday.
Running back Kyle Monangai and tight end Colston Loveland made the Bears the first team in NFL history to have a rookie rush for at least 175 yards and a rookie have at least 100 receiving yards in the same game.
Rome Odunze didn’t have any catches, and he had a couple of balls he probably could have caught, but his blocking was really good in the run game on Sunday.
DEFENSE
Tremaine Edmunds had 9 tackles and an interception that he was robbed of a TD on.
C.J. Johnson-Gardner had 6 tackles, a tackle for loss, and a sack in his Bears debut.
Austin Booker had 2 tackles, a TFL, a sack, and a forced fumble in his season debut.
Montez Sweat had 2 tackles, a TFL, a sack, and 2 passes defended.
Jaquan Brisker had 6 tackles.
Kevin Byard III had 5 tackles and a TFL.
Tyrique Stevenson had 6 tackles and a PD.
Nahshon Wrght had 4 tackles, an interception, and 2 PD.
SPECIAL TEAMS*
*The above image has players who only played in the third phase.
Cairo Santos hit all 6 extra points, 2 field goals, and had another blocked. He missed a field goal, but it was negated by a Bengal penalty.
Tory Taylor had 2 punts for a 58.5 average (52.5 net), including a booming 69-yarder which he put inside the twenty.
D’Marco Jackson had 3 special teams tackles, and Travis Homer and Carl Jones Jr. had 2 each.
To check out the complete Bears vs. Bengals box score, I find ESPN’s site is easy to navigate.
All statistics and snap counts, as well as the accompanying pictures, are taken directly from the NFL’s Game Statistic and Information System.
