Windy City Gridiron
Boy does it feel good to get back to winning football. Even if, for a moment, it looked like we were about to lose in the most spectacular way possible.
But we’re not here to apologize for winning! Fueled by a late 58-yard strike from Caleb Williams to rookie tight end Colston Loveland, the Chicago Bears stunned the Cincinnati Bengals 47–42 at Paycor Stadium. And they did it just seconds after nearly blowing the whole thing, giving up 15 points in 49 seconds in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Bears offense absolutely exploded: 6 touchdowns, 576 total yards (their most in a game since the 61–7 demolition of the Packers in 1980) and 30 first downs. Rookies carried the day. Kyle Monangai churned out 176 yards on 26 carries and added 22 receiving yards. Colston Loveland hauled in 6 passes for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns. And Caleb Williams put together his best graded passing performance of the year: 280 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air, plus 53 rushing yards, and (because why not) 2 receptions for 22 yards and another touchdown.
My favorite little nugget: In 2024, the Bears traded Khalil Herbert to the Bengals for a 7th-round pick. That 7th-round pick became Kyle Monangai.
Sometimes the football gods have jokes. And today, they were laughing with us.
A lot of records were set on Sunday, including Caleb Williams becoming the first player in NFL history to finish a game with multiple passing touchdowns, multiple receptions, and a receiving touchdown. Just a completely absurd stat line.
Caleb was also clutch when the Bears were behind. According to PFF, while trailing on Sunday he accounted for 301 total yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and posted a 124.0 passer rating. When the moment tightened, he played his best football.
It was a thrilling, high-scoring game. Not exactly something Bears fans are used to, but sometimes it’s nice to be on the right side of the chaos for a change:
Let’s look at some metrics and notes, and get into some play breakdown after!
(Season totals are underlined, Season averages in Italics)
C/A: 138/223 (61.8%) | 19.7/31.9 (61.8%) | 20/34 (58.8%)
Yards: 1636 | 233.7 | 288
Touchdowns: 11 | 1.6 | 4
Turnovers: 4 | 0.6 | 0
QB at Fault Sacks: 6 | 0.9 | 1
aDOT: *8.*7 | 9.0
Passer Rating: 90.2 | 114.8
True Passer Rating: 127.2| 150.2
Time to Throw: 2.97s | 3.79s
Time to Pressure: 2.61s | 2.90s
Pressure Rate: 30.49% | 34.88%
On-Target Rate: 58.6% | 84.6%
Poor Play Rate / Big Play Rate: 12.9% PPR / 6.6% BPR | 6.7% PPR / 8.9% BRP
The full grading sheet for each play can be found here.
