Bears fans who spent the last 17 years wishing for a quarterback who could outduel Aaron Rodgers’ team got their wish Sunday — though they probably should have been more specific when they said their prayers.
Hours after the Steelers ruled Rodgers out because of a broken wrist and scuttled likely the last Soldier Field game in the former Packers quarterback’s career, Caleb Williams threw for three touchdowns in a 31-28 win.
The Bears improved to 8-3 and stayed atop the NFC North entering Friday’s game against the defending champion Eagles.
Williams went 19-for-35 for 239 yards and helped the Bears overcome a injury-ravaged defense that at times hung on for dear life, even against backup Mason Rudolph. He had to overcome his own mistake, too, when he backpedaled into the end zone and fumbled away a touchdown to the Steelers. Williams was wild all game long, too, sailing some receivers and throwing the ball at others’ feet.
“You don’t apologize for any wins in this league. …” Williams said. “But you do understand where you can be as a team, what we could have done out there, and that’s the frustrating part.
“It starts with me, and it funnels down to everybody else. Missing a few passes and a couple of passes recently that I’ve been kind of just surgical with … It was frustrating.”
On second-and-20 from his own 10 early in the second quarter, Williams dropped back, scanned the field and decided to backpedal into the end zone when he saw star edge rusher T.J. Watt coming for him.
The edge rusher pinned Williams’ arm to his body, and he fumbled it. Nick Herbig fell on the ball for a touchdown. It was Watt’s 25th career strip sack, the most in the NFL since 2017. Williams lamented his mistake afterward.
“Just throw the ball away,” Williams said. “Live to fight for another down.”
Williams spent the rest of the game atoning for the mistake. Over parts of four drives on either side of halftime, the Bears threw on 18 straight plays, completing 11 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. The second was a fitting tribute to Rodgers, who used to bait Bears defenders into jumping offside before burning them deep.
On third-and-six from the Steelers’ 25, the Bears emptied the backfield and had Williams give a hard count, prompting edge rusher Jack Sawyer to lurch forward. Center Drew Dalman saw the movement and snapped the ball to Williams, who looked left and then threw up the right seam to a wide-open Moore.
“It’s such a good pass-rushing group,” coach Ben Johnson said. “We were trying to find ways to slow them down a little bit, and that was an opportunity for us to work our cadence. I thought the execution of it was really well done. It’s something we’ve been working on since the springtime, through training camp, and everybody on offense has slowly but surely gotten better at that.”
The touchdown avenged Moore’s taunting penalty two plays earlier, when he turned second-and-five into second-and-20. Moore also caught Williams’ first touchdown pass, a five-yarder, halfway through the first quarter.
“I know it is big for our confidence, as well as relationship …” Williams said. “And then also just having one of our star guys get going, it only builds momentum for us as a team.”
After a 95-yard Steelers touchdown drive, Bears running back D’Andre Swift fumbled the ball away at midfield and the Bears defense stuffed aa fourth-and-1 “Tush Push.” Williams drove the Bears 70 yards and threw a 12-yard touchdown to rookie Colston Loveland.
The Steelers lined up in the same “Tush Push” formation on fourth-and-1 with 1:22 to play in the first half. Rnning back Kenneth Gainwell instead took the ball from tight end Connor Heyward and ran around the right end for a 55-yard gain, putting the ball at the 1. They then pitched the ball to Jaylen Warren for a one-yard touchdown.
The Bears responded with 47-yard Cairo Santos field goal as the first half expired.
DOING WATT HE DOES BEST 🙌 @_TJWatt
📺 #PITvsCHI on @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/3PDkA9HUVN
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 23, 2025
Moore’s 25-yard touchdown was the only score in the third quarter. A two-yard Kyle Monangai touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter gave the Bears a 10-point lead.
The Steelers parried with a three-yard touchdown pass from Rudolph — who went 24-for-31 for 171 yards and a 86.9 passer rating — to tight end Pat Freiermuth to cap an eight-and-a-half minute drive. They got the ball back a little under two minutes later, thanks to Williams taking a delay of game on third-and-8 despite being in a shotgun snap with 12 seconds left on the play clock. The Bears were lined up wrong, Williams said, and Johnson didn’t want to burn a timeout.
They traded punts, with the Bears getting the ball up three at the two-minute warning. The Bears ran twice, prompting the Steelers to use their timeouts, before Williams was pressured, rolled right and threw incomplete to Rome Odunze along the right sideline. A Steelers player was hurt on the play, though, which cost them their final timeout.
Tory Taylor’s punt rolled into the end zone to give Rudolph the ball at his 20 with 1:29 to play. He completed passes 14, seven and eight yards to get to the 49 before stalling. Two two-yard completions bookended an incomplete pass, which left him fourth-and-six at the Bears’ 47. A blitzing Jaquan Brisker batted his throw left toward D.K. Metcalf to seal the game.
It was a strong enough effort from a unit that began the game without all three linebackers, only to lose linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and defensive end Dominique Robinson to injuries.
Williams, who grew up admiring Rodgers, gave the quarterback-in-street-clothes a hug after the game. Other Bears bemoaned his absence, too.
“I would have loved to play Aaron Rodgers,” said defensive end Montez Sweat, who had two sacks. “He’s a great QB. I sacked him a couple of years ago. I would love to get him again.”
