ATLANTA — Caleb Williams is back. Perhaps the Bears are, too.
One week after being humiliated by the rival Packers, the Bears outplayed the Falcons from the first snap of Williams’ return from a hamstring injury Sunday. They escaped a hectic fourth quarter — during which they went from ahead by 24 to up by eight — to win 31-23 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
In his first game back since he was injured in Week 2, Williams started the game 12-for-12 and led the team to touchdowns on their first two drives. He finished 30-for-36 for 305 yards and a 111.2 passer rating. Even more importantly, Williams’ hamstring seemed strong. The Bears even leaned on him to run a quarterback sneak on third-and-one to help seal the win.
Williams’ return seemed to energize the entire roster. The Bears defense, which had been torched on deep passes a week ago, held the Falcons to seven points before putting in their backups in the fourth quarter. The Bears’ specialists forced a fumble on both a kickoff and a punt.
The opening drive was worth waiting three weeks for. Williams completed all six of his passes and showed off his healthy hamstring on the 14-yard touchdown pass to Colston Loveland, stepping up into the pocket and rolling right before throwing across his body to Loveland at the goal line. The Bears’ second drive ended with a four-yard D’Andre Swift run. Williams started the game 12-for-12 for 142 yards and a 143.8 passer rating before throwing his first incompletion of the game — on third down during the Bears’ third possession. He finished the half 19-for-22 for 197 yards.
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The Falcons countered with a 13-yard Jahan Dotson touchdown catch on a fade route over Malik Muhammad midway through the in the second quarter. The Falcons had a short field after Bears kicker Cairo Santos missed a 56-yard field goal to the left. The Bears scored their third touchdown after the Falcons’ Zachariah Branch muffed a punt at the 10 with 1:52 to play in the first half. Swift ran a third-down handoff in for two yards to go up 21-7.
Bears running back Roschon Johnson provided the only touchdown of the third quarter on a four-yard carry. Santos made a 50-yard field goal to put the Bears up 31-7 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Then things got hairy. With the Bears playing backups on defense, the Falcons marched 91 yards to score on a 10-yard Kyle Pitts catch — and then made a two-point conversion to pull within 16. The Bears seemed content to hand the ball off, but their plans were betrayed when Johnson fumbled with 7:21 left at the Falcons’ 43. With new life, the Falcons drove for another Pitts touchdown catch — this time against the Bears’ starters. A slant pass to Drake London on the two-point conversion pulled the Falcons within eight with 5:41 to play.
The Bears then went three-and-out after Williams scrambled for two yards, Swift ran for three and Williams was sacked with 4:11 to play.
The Falcons were flagged for a holding penalty when they thought they converted on third-and-six with 3:01 to play. On third-and-16, cornerback Kyler Gordon, playing his first game of the season, sacked Falcons quarterback Michael Penix, forcing him to fumble. Gordon, who had fought a calf injury since the spring, had three sacks and two forced fumbles.