Bears vs. Falcons: Caleb Williams Hits His First 12 Passes, Kyler Gordon Wrecks Atlanta in Week 6

Caleb Williams spent three games watching from the sideline with a bad hamstring. On Sunday in Atlanta, he came back and completed his first 12 passes like he was playing catch in the backyard, and the Chicago Bears built a 31-7 lead before hanging on to beat the Falcons 31-23 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The comeback tour had a co-headliner. Cornerback Kyler Gordon, activated from the physically unable to perform list the day before his season debut, sacked Michael Penix Jr. three times, forced two fumbles and ended Atlanta's late rally with a strip-sack that Devin Bush recovered with 2:54 left. The Bears are 4-2. The Falcons are 2-4 and still winless at home.

Fast Start, Wobbly Finish

Chicago's first two possessions looked like a coach's whiteboard come to life. The opener went 67 yards in 10 plays, kept alive by a hook-and-ladder on third-and-11 where Rome Odunze pitched to Roschon Johnson for a 12-yard gain, per the Bears. Williams finished it by escaping pressure and threading a 14-yard touchdown to Colston Loveland, who held on through a big hit from Jessie Bates III. Atlanta's first drive gained 1 yard. Chicago's second went 59 yards and ended with D'Andre Swift's 4-yard touchdown run. 14-0.

Atlanta finally answered after Cairo Santos pushed a 56-yard field goal wide left. Penix hit Drake London for 39 yards, then dropped a perfect back-shoulder fade to Jahan Dotson for a 13-yard touchdown. The momentum lasted about four minutes. Zachariah Branch called for a fair catch on a Tory Taylor punt, muffed it, and Josh Blackwell recovered at the Atlanta 10. Swift scored from 2 yards out three plays later, and Chicago led 21-7 at the half.

The third quarter belonged to the Bears' defense and special teams. Jaylon Johnson broke up a fourth-down pass to London to end Atlanta's opening drive, Roschon Johnson bulled in from 4 yards out late in the quarter, and on the ensuing kickoff Zavier Scott stripped Branch and Nick McCloud recovered at the Atlanta 31. Santos drilled a 50-yarder on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 31-7 lead.

Then things got weird. With a Thursday night game against New England looming, the Bears pulled most of their No. 1 defense, according to the team. Penix found Kyle Pitts Sr. for a 10-yard touchdown and hit Branch for the two-point conversion. Roschon Johnson lost a fumble. Penix hit Pitts again from 5 yards out and found London for two more. In a 3:53 span, a 24-point lead had become 31-23 with 5:41 left.

Williams Is Back, Gordon Is Everywhere

Williams finished 30 of 36 for 305 yards with a touchdown, no interceptions and a 111.2 passer rating. The Bears say his 83.3 completion percentage was a career high and the best in franchise history by a quarterback who threw at least 30 passes. He was 12 of 12 for 142 yards before his first incompletion in the second quarter, according to the AP.

"You're itching on the sideline during the season," Williams said.

Luther Burden III caught eight passes for 95 yards, Loveland added six for 65, and Roschon Johnson ran for a career-high 51 yards, per the team. Swift scored twice.

Gordon, though, was the plot twist. All three of his sacks and both forced fumbles came in the second half, and he did it in only 17 snaps, according to the Bears. Per the team, he became just the second Bears defensive back with three sacks in a game, joining Todd Bell in 1983, and only the second NFL defensive back since 1982 with at least three sacks and two forced fumbles in a game.

"That's Spider-Man," Bears defensive end Daniel Hardy said.

One Blitz Too Many for Atlanta

The game-sealing sequence was Gordon twice in a row. Atlanta got the ball back at its own 28 with 3:34 left, and on third-and-6, Penix appeared to convert with a 9-yard pass to Branch. But Gordon's blitz drew a holding penalty on Bijan Robinson, wiping it out. On the next snap, Gordon came again, got home, and knocked the ball loose. Bush fell on it. The Bears then ran out the clock inside the Atlanta 5.

Bears coach Ben Johnson had asked Gordon one simple question before activating him. "I asked him if he was ready to go," Johnson said. "He said 'absolutely' and he certainly was."

The scariest moment came midway through the third quarter, when Falcons linebacker Kendal Daniels was carted off after a helmet-first tackle on Loveland. The team said he was alert and had movement in all extremities, according to the AP.

The Numbers That Matter

• 40:08: Chicago's time of possession. The Bears ran 73 plays to Atlanta's 50.
• 12 for 133: Chicago's penalties, the ugliest line in the box score. Receiver Jahdae Walker was ejected in the fourth quarter after a personal foul, per the AP.
• 9 carries, 61 yards: Bijan Robinson's line. The Bears say the league's leading rusher entered the week with 580 rushing yards.
• 4 of 5: Chicago's red-zone touchdown rate, a big jump for an offense that had struggled to finish drives.

What It Means

For Chicago, this was a reset after a 31-7 loss at Green Bay. The Bears went 2-1 with Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum filling in, according to the AP, but Williams' return reminded everyone what the ceiling looks like, and Gordon gives Dennis Allen's defense a blitzing weapon it had been missing all season. New England visits Soldier Field on Thursday night, so the Bears get little time to celebrate.

Atlanta has bigger questions. The Falcons are 0-3 at home, went 0-for-3 on fourth down, and lost three fumbles. Penix, who left last week's 30-23 overtime loss to Baltimore with a rib injury, threw three touchdown passes, but the hole was too deep.

"We just can't get off a schedule like that," Penix said.

Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski put it on himself. "We talked at length about starting fast in this ball game, and we did not," Stefanski said. San Francisco comes to Atlanta next Sunday.

The Rust Never Showed

The funniest part of Williams' day came after it. Asked whether this was his best game, he did not even know his own numbers. "I didn't know that I went 30 for 36, and so I've got to go obviously back and watch the tape," Williams said.

Some quarterbacks need a few weeks to shake off the rust. Williams needed zero incompletions in the first quarter and a cornerback who moonlights as a superhero. The Bears will take that sequel every week.

Stats from the official box score and play-by-play via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by the Associated Press and ChicagoBears.com.