By Jon Machota, Kevin Fishbain, Dan Wiederer and Rebecca Tauber

The Chicago Bears secured a crucial first win of the season Sunday, beating the Dallas Cowboys 31-14 as Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb went out in the first quarter after rolling his left ankle.

Chicago matched its total number of first-quarter touchdowns from 2024 with three, including a 65-yard touchdown from Caleb Williams to rookie Luther Burden III, his career first. Williams had a strong day, finishing with 298 passing yards and four touchdown passes.

The Cowboys drop to 1-2 ahead of their Week 4 game against the Green Bay Packers, while the 1-2 Bears next take on the Las Vegas Raiders.

Williams comes through for crucial win

Chicago needed this. The Bears needed this. Yes, Sunday’s 31-14 defeat of the Cowboys must be put inside its proper frame, a home win over a beatable and vulnerable opponent with a shaky and depleted defense. But for a Bears team 350 days removed from its last victory at Soldier Field, Sunday’s performance was a welcome treat to a fan base that has had its patience tested for far too long. It was also a sweet relief to a team needing some positive reinforcement for its efforts. Now, everyone can exhale and regroup for Week 4 with a little less tension and a little more enthusiasm.

Williams was the Bears’ engine Sunday, connecting on two stadium-shaking touchdown passes in the first quarter to get the Bears off to a strong start. Williams took advantage of strong protection and man-to-man coverage on his favorite receiver to hit his first touchdown, a 35-yard bomb down the left sideline to Rome Odunze. On the first play of the next possession, a flea-flicker set Williams up for a 65-yard scoring strike to Burden. By day’s end, Williams completed passes to eight different players. He had a career-high four TD passes, each to a different target, to go along with 298 passing yards. If anyone needed this kind of day, Williams did. — Dan Wiederer, Bears senior writer

Cowboys’ loss doesn’t bode well

If the Cowboys look that bad against the Bears, how ugly could things really get this season? Is this potentially a four-win team? Could it be worse?

The Dallas defense is so bad that any team is capable of going off against them. They are an opposing quarterback’s dream. There’s very little pass rush and the back end seemed to have just as many communication issues as last week. That’s alarming. NFL receivers shouldn’t be that open over and over again.

Getting Jadeveon Clowney on the field isn’t going to make that big of a difference. There was a thought entering this game that maybe the 2025 Cowboys could exceed expectations by putting up big numbers on offense. Well, without Lamb, they clearly are not that type of elite offense. The Bears’ defense is not good. Even without Lamb, that’s a game the Cowboys have to score more than 14 points in the first three quarters.

First-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer really has his hands full now. This thing has a chance to completely spiral out of control one month into the season. Hard to believe they’ll bounce back next week against Micah Parsons and the Packers. — Jon Machota, Cowboys staff writer

Bears defense shows up

The Bears’ defense, down three starters, responded quite well to last week’s embarrassment in Detroit. It started with Tyrique Stevenson’s strip and recovery on the opening Dallas drive — and boy did he need a rebound after the Lions game. Following three consecutive Dallas scoring drives, the Bears’ defense showed its resilience, supporting its offense’s best performance of the season. They forced a couple of punts, and Tremaine Edmunds had a pair of interceptions, including one in the end zone. As one of the highest-paid players on the team, Edmunds didn’t put up enough impact plays last season, but he found the football on Sunday afternoon.

Safety Kevin Byard’s interception in the end zone at the end of the game gave the Bears four takeaways. The run defense showed leaks, and the pass rush could still be better, but the Bears’ defense was timely with its big plays. Maybe the most important? Dominique Robinson’s first solo sack since Week 1 of 2022 — his NFL debut — ending a Cowboys drive. — Kevin Fishbain, Bears senior writer

(Photo: David Banks / Imagn Images)