Bears beat Steelers to improve to 8-3

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 are 8-3 and have won four in a row for the second time this year.

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 — 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 25^th career strip sack, the most in the NFL since 2017.

Williams spent the rest of the game atoning for the mistake, throwing a five-yard pass to DJ Moore in the first quarter and a 25-yarder in the third.

The Steelers countered Moore’s first touchdown with a 95-yard scoring drive which ended in a six-yard touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf. After the two teams traded lost possessions — Bears running back D’Andre Swift fumbled the ball away at midfield, and the Steelers were stuffed for no gain on a fourth-and-1 “Tush Push” — Williams drove the Bears 70 yards, converting fourth-and-1 on an eight-yard run toward the left sideline and eventually throwing 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 and instead handed the ball off to running back Kenneth Gainwell, who 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. On the next play, the Steelers 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.

There was only one score in the third quarter — a 25-yard pass to Moore two plays after his taunting penalty set the Bears back 15 yards. Rudolph threw a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth with 6:32 to play in the game and then got the ball back down three, thanks to the Bears taking a delay of game on third-and-8. A Bears punt gave the Steelers the ball at their own 11 but they managed just 11 yards on six plays and booted the ball back to the Bears at the two-minute warning.

The Bears ran the ball 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 forced the Steelers to use their final timeout. Tory Taylor’s punt rolled into the end zone.

The Steelers’ final drive got as far as the Bears’ 48 before safety Jaquan Brisker deflected Rudolph’s pass at the line of scrimmage for an incompletion.