Caleb Williams, Bears offense shines with win over Jaguars

The Bears’ defense delivered another strong performance, limiting the Jaguars to 278 yards rushing while also generating two takeaways and four sacks.

“I thought our D-line ran really well today and got some really good pressure,” Eberflus said. “The linebackers, those guys always play hot.”

D’Andre Swift had another outstanding game, rushing for 91 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries and catching four passes for 28 yards.

“The big thing about Swift is getting it into space because then it can be electric,” Eberflus said. “I was really happy with the way he ran the ball today. It was good as far as (rushing) average goes. But you need some explosives and you need to limit them on defense, and I thought we did that on both sides.” Ball.”

Kmet led the Bears with five catches for 70 yards, including TD receptions of 31 and 2 yards. He also filled in as long snapper after Scott Daly left late in the first quarter after suffering a knee injury on a punt. Kmet managed six snaps with one field goal and five extra points.

“This is elite,” Allen said. “We talked about it on the sidelines. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy score a touchdown and then take a snap. Pretty solid.”

Allen was pretty solid as well, enjoying his best game of the season with five receptions for 41 yards and two touchdowns.

“We all saw it,” Eberflus said. “He has had a long career. He made a lot of plays. He’s always open, this guy. (Opponents) try to cover him twice, front, back, sideways. This doesn’t work. He is always open. He’s an exciting player.”

After the Jaguars (1-5) took a 3-0 lead on Cam Little’s 30-yard field goal on their first possession of the game, the Bears responded early in the second quarter.

Williams threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Kmet to give the Bears a 7-3 lead with 11:07 left in the first half. After faking a pass left and then right, Williams threw across the middle to Kmet, who deflected a tackle and then dragged another defender into the end zone while stretching the ball across the goal line.

“That was a great play call,” Allen said. “We were in the perfect spot on the pitch to make the breakthrough. That was one of the plays before the game where we thought, ‘We have a good chance to score on this play.’ Cole did a hell of a job getting into the end zone and running through a guy.

On their next possession, the Bears advanced from their own 5 to the Jaguars’ 41, highlighted by Williams’ 28-yard pass to Rome Odunze. But on third-and-1, Williams’ deep pass to Moore was intercepted by safety Andre Cisco at the 7.

The Bears extended their lead to 14-3 on Williams’ 2-yard touchdown pass to Kmet with :13 left in the first half. Their second TD connection of the game capped an impressive 10-play, 85-yard drive that included Williams scrambles of 23 and 19 yards and Williams’ 10-yard pass to Allen on third-and-5.

After being held to seven yards in the first quarter, the Bears gained 216 yards in the second. In the first half, Williams completed 12 of 15 passes for 128 yards with two touchdowns.

“After the first couple drives, he was obviously in a rhythm,” Allen said. “He gave it his all…When he’s in a groove like that and all the balls are catchable, it’s pretty easy to play receiver.”

On the Jaguars’ first play of the second half, TJ Edwards picked off the ball from tight end Evan Engram on a 24-yard reception and Elijah Hicks returned the fumble 19 yards to the Jacksonville 41.

The Bears converted the takeaway when Williams fired a 9-yard touchdown pass to Allen on third-and-goal, extending the lead to 21-3 with 11:22 left in the third quarter. The TD came after Allen’s 11-yard reception on third-and-8 kept the drive alive and Swift gained 19 yards with a screen pass to the 9.

The Jaguars then cut the deficit to 21-10 when Trevor Lawrence sent a 21-yard touchdown pass to receiver Gabe Davis midway through the third quarter.

The Bears answered when Williams threw his fourth TD pass of the game and threw the second behind Allen, a 3-yarder with a perfect fade pattern to make the score 28-10 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

“It was one-on-one,” Allen said. “It was a blast, the press coverage. It was actually a running play with a fade check. As soon as you line up you know what time it is: ‘It’s one on one, me and you, Caleb, throwing.’ the ball.’ And when I looked up, it was a perfect ball, so I didn’t have to jump up and make a miraculous catch or anything like that.”

Then the defense got its second advantage when Josh Blackwell, in the game at nickel after Kyler Gordon was sidelined with a hamstring injury, intercepted Lawrence over the middle and returned the ball from 10 yards to the Jaguars’ 36 yards.

The Bears capitalized on the turnover and extended their lead to 35-10 on Swift’s 1-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter.

Lawrence followed with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Davis to make it 35-16 with 6:58 left. But by that point, the Bears had already iced their third straight win and continued their climb into the bye week.

“We have great leadership and we feed off each other,” Allen said. “The defense is great, the offense has gotten better every week, the special teams are second to none and I think we’re doing a great job. “It’s my job to show up ready to work every day.”