👋 Good morning!
Four areas where the Bears succeeded in yesterday’s win?
Hustle.
Intensity
The ball (??)
Smart
Why does that sound familiar? Regardless, that was quite the win, right?
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Good. Better. Best.
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest, until your good gets better, and your better gets best.”
That chant is how Ben Johnson broke down the huddle in the locker room following his first win as head coach of the Bears. Describing that scene as energetic might be an understatement.
Good: Tremaine Edmunds intercepted Dak Prescott twice and Kevin Byard II picked off Cowboys backup QB Joe Milton to put a stamp on the defensive effort. Tyrique Stevenson’s clean strip of Javonte Williams ended the Cowboys’ first offensive drive.
This was somewhat of a “prove it” game for Stevenson, who’d allowed a perfect 158.3 passer rating through the first two weeks of the season.
Ben Johnson on Stevenson’s performance: “I thought Tyrique in general had a really nice bounce-back game. He's one of those guys, like a lot of us, we haven't started the season the way we wanted to yet. He's capable of being a big-time player in this league, and I thought he played that way today.”
Better: Braxton Jones and Joe Thuney did not allow a single pressure from the left side of the line, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Jones is just the fourth left tackle in the NFL to not allow a pressure in a game this season.
Entering Sunday, Jones had allowed a team-high 10 pressures.
Bears O-Line Coach Dan Roushar said Thursday: “What we’ve seen is, early in games, you see [Jones] playing at a pretty high level. As the games are going, we’ve seen decline in both the first two games.”
Sunday’s effort was quite the response from Jones.
Best: Caleb Williams finished the day 19-of-28 passing with 298 passing yards and four touchdowns.
Williams said: “I think it starts with practice and how consistent we were in practice. The preparation, when we're actually between the white lines, and going out there and competing versus each other and having these tough practices. And it builds the confidence to go out and have the game like we had today.”
17-Game Pace: Through three games, Williams has 715 yards and seven touchdowns through the air. Over a full schedule, that’s 4,052 yards and 40 scores — enough to break the Bears’ franchise records in each category, both set by Erik Kramer in 1995 (3,838 yards, 29 TD).
Even better? We finally got our first vintage Ben Johnson moment — Williams’ long and nasty flea flicker to Luther Burden III in the first quarter.
This game had everything you wanted to see from this team. Downfield passing, Williams standing tall in the pocket and the defense bouncing back after an abysmal Week 2 in Detroit.
The next step is getting the rushing attack on point, but the Bears survived without any significant contributions on the ground.
This was a building block effort — and one built on complementary football. Ex-Bears head coach Matt Eberflus would be proud. After all, he played a big role in the offense’s explosion — just from the opposing sideline.
Bears 31, Cowboys 14
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FOUR IN A ROW: The Cubs clinched a postseason spot, partied a bit and decided to take off their four-game series against the Reds. Not great.
It’s the first time the Cubs have lost four in a row this season. Jameson Taillon tossed seven innings of one-run ball on Sunday but still picked up the loss.
It’s the second time in the last four games that a Cubs starter has gone seven innings and allowed only one run yet still received the loss — Colin Rea did so on Thursday.
Buy hey — at least Carlos Santana picked up his first hit in a Cubs uniform. He’s now 1-for-18 since joining the club at the beginning of the month.
The magic number to clinch the top NL Wild Card seed is still at four. With the Cubs’ latest skid, the Brewers officially clinched the NL Central on Sunday.
Reds 1, Cubs 0
Roster Move: Before Sunday’s game, the Cubs recalled LHP Jordan Wicks from Triple-A Iowa and optioned RHP Porter Hodge.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The White Sox wrapped up their home schedule with a series loss to the San Diego Padres. They lost five of their last six at Rate Field to end the year.
Mike Vasil, Grant Taylor, Brandon Eisert and Jordan Leasure combined for five scoreless innings out of the bullpen, but the offensive effort wasn’t quite enough against Michael King and the rest of the Padres’ pitching staff.
The Sox left 11 men on base and had more double plays (2) than extra-base hits (1).
They’ll head to New York for a three-game series against the Yankees before finishing the regular season against the Nationals in Washington, D.C.
The Sox still have a shot to avoid 100 losses, but the odds are certainly not in their favor. They’ll have to finish 5-1.
Padres 3, White Sox 2
BEST FANS IN FOOTBALL🐻⬇️
— #CHGO Bears (#@CHGO_Bears)
6:08 PM • Sep 21, 2025
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