CHICAGO — Chicago Bears second-year quarterback Caleb Williams had never had a game in his two-season NFL career without being sacked. 

Now he does after facing Matt Eberflus’ 2025 Dallas Cowboys defense and routing them in a 31-14 win, the first of Chicago’s 2025 season. Williams torched Eberflus’ zone-heavy unit, tying his career high for passing touchdowns (four) in addition to 298 yards through the air on 19 of 28 passing. Per CBS Sports Research, Williams in Week 3 against the Cowboys became the first player with multiple 30-yard passing touchdowns in the first quarter of a game since Patrick Mahomes at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 season.

One reason Dallas plays as much zone coverage as they do is because of All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland’s foot injury and having to rotate less experienced players at their nickel cornerback spot. The other reason is Dallas isn’t generating enough quarterback pressure without All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to play tight, man coverage with the cornerbacks they do have. With Parsons now on the Green Bay Packers, the Cowboys are generating a 31.8% quarterback pressure rate — 20th-best in the NFL entering “Sunday Night Football” and “Monday Night Football” in Week 3. 

The Cowboys registered a 40.2% quarterback pressure rate in Parsons’ four seasons in Dallas before they traded him to Green Bay in exchange for two first-round picks and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark. That 40.2% rate across the last four years led the league. 

After getting embarrassed through the air and becoming the first team to not sack Williams in a game, Dallas will reunite with Parsons in Week 4 when his Packers (2-1) come to AT&T Stadium in Week on “Sunday Night Football.” Owner and general manager Jerry Jones opted to trade him to the Packers instead of re-sign him after communications broke down between himself, Parsons and David Mulugheta — Parsons’ agent. 

“I have all the respect in the world for him, and we know him well,” Jones said postgame on Sunday. “So you can bet that we’ll be preparing for what he brings to the table. We’ll be trying to come up with some antidotes for it too.”

Green Bay and Dallas will be facing each other for the first time since the Packers rocked the Cowboys 48-32 in the 2023 NFC wild card round, a game in which the seventh-seeded Packers raced out to a 27-0 lead. Jones shared his respect for Parsons and his family when asked about the oddity of seeing Parsons in person in a different uniform next Sunday. The four-time Pro Bowler has 1.5 sacks and 15 quarterback pressures in three games with the Packers. His QB pressures figure is tied for the sixth-most in the NFL entering “Monday Night Football” in Week 3. 

“Well, I like Miach. I enjoy his family. Like I said, I’ve sat at ball games with them apart from the Cowboys,” Jones said. “As a matter of fact, I watched the whole first half of our last preseason game with his mom. We sat there, watched the whole first half up in the suite together and talked contract.”

Those contract talks ended up not bearing fruit, and as a result, Clark, who was Green Bay’s longest-tenured player entering what would have been his 10th season as a Packer in 2025, is a Cowboy. He’s also excited to see his former squad in a week’s time. Trading away a 26-year-old, multi-time All-Pro like Parsons means it may take some time to firmly decide who won the deal, but Week 4 will provide a chance for both sides to race out to an early edge in that debate. 

“It’s going to be great, man. I know it’s going to be a great game, and you know you’re going to be fully prepared for it,” Clark said postgame. “We have to go in, get some corrections and get ready for a tough, physical game.”