Bears’ Week Six Takeaways From London
The Chicago Bears improved to 4-2 after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 35-16 in London for their third win in a row. Ever since their Week Three loss to the Colts, the Bears have been looking better and better each week in every way possible. Caleb Williams has been maturing as the main play-caller of this offense and he’s been connecting well with his receiver core. The defense has still been stellar as it has been all season and the run game is starting to take shape into this offense. After three straight wins for Chicago, they now look forward to a bye week as they take this week to go over what can be done better and what’s been going well for the Monsters of the Midway. Will the Bears lose momentum with their bye week coming up or will they continue their winning streak despite it?
Caleb Williams Making His Way Into the OROY Conversation?
The Bears’ number-one draft pick has been playing like a star for the past two weeks. Caleb Williams went 23-for-29 for 226 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception while adding 56 yards rushing. He started off the game with back-to-back three-and-outs but bounced back real quick making some great plays in the red zone. His quarterback IQ really kicked in during this game as he stayed in the pocket, made all the right reads, and scrambled only when he needed to. This game was quite impressive for the 22-year-old as he made his sixth career start in the NFL even though he didn’t have a great start to the season. Williams never force-fed a single target as he spread out the ball to all his weapons, having six receivers reaching at least 20 yards. Cole Kmet and Keenan Allen led the way with five catches and two touchdowns each. After these last two weeks, it wouldn’t be surprising if Caleb Williams made his way into the Offensive Rookie of the Year conversation. He’s maturing real fast as an NFL quarterback and he’s starting to become a threat in this league.
Running Game Starting to Come Alive
During the first three weeks of the season, D’Andre Swift has averaged just 1.8 yards per carry and 20 of his 58 yards came on one of his 37 attempts. So, that means he had 38 yards on his other 36 carries. In Week Four against the Rams, a switch was flipped when Swift totaled 93 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. He followed up on that with a 73-yard rushing performance against the Panthers. He finished out against the Jaguars posting 91 rushing yards on 17 carries, 28 receiving yards, and a touchdown. With Swift becoming more reliable in the Bears backfield, it’s opening up more options for Caleb Williams. Opposing defenses will have to worry about the Bears running game, which will make the passing game so much better and more dangerous. If the Bears can keep this version of D’Andre Swift past their bye week, it’s all up from here for the Chicago Bears.
Bears’ Defense Holds It Down Despite Injuries in Secondary
There was a moment where it seemed like Trevor Lawrence was bound for a big day against a banged-up Bears’ defense. The Jaguars scored on their opening drive, but the defense clamped up the rest of the game. Giving credit to some backups in the defense, safety Elijah Hicks broke up a pass in the end zone, defensive tackle Chris Williams posted a sack, and cornerback Josh Blackwell caught his first career interception. Before leaving the game with an injury, cornerback Kyler Gordon made several key tackles throughout the game. DeMarcus Walker had a sack and two QB hits, while T.J. Edwards forced a fumble to start the second half that set the tone for the Bears to win this matchup. This bye week couldn’t have come at a better time knowing the Bears have some defensive pieces that need to be healed up.
