Wild day of ups and downs for Bears QB Caleb Williams ends on high with touchdown pass to beat Bengals 47-42

CINCINNATI — It’s a good thing for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams that coach Ben Johnson seems to have the stomach to endure the ongoing ups and downs as the franchise waits for his breakthrough. From game to game, and even from play to play, it’s hard to know what they’re going to get.

Williams was all over the place yet again Sunday against the Bengals, but surged at the end and rescued the Bears with the winning touchdown pass for a thrilling 47-42 victory at Paycor Stadium. It got them back on track after an ugly loss in Baltimore the week before, and at 5-3, they matched their win total from last season.

This was hardly a masterpiece, but the Bears saw that as a problem for another day after emerging from the madness of rallying for a 14-point lead with five minutes left, then falling behind 42-41 in the final minute as the Bengals cashed in on an onside kick recovery before Williams put them back on top with a 58-yard touchdown pass.

Nothing mattered more than that.

“Here’s what I know: He threw some touchdowns, he didn’t throw any interceptions and he used his legs to help us extend drives,” Johnson said. “So I was pleased with that.”

Williams steered out of a 9-for-17 lull in the first half, during which the Bears went from up three to down four, and finished 20-for-34 passing for 280 yards and three touchdowns for a 114.8 passer rating — his highest since Week 3 against the Cowboys. Those are the two worst defenses in the NFL.

He also caught two passes, one for a touchdown, for 22 yards and ran five times for 53.

All the Bears’ usual concerns were there — a bleeding defense, pre-snap confusion on offense, Williams’ unsteadiness, red-zone slippage — but Johnson dug deep into his library of trick plays, Williams sharpened up in the second half and the rushing attack overpowered the Bengals.

The Bears needed every bit of that to get past the sputtering Bengals. This isn’t the franchise that typically wins a shootout.

The last time they allowed 35-plus and won was in 2008, and they’d never won while allowing 42 or more. It also was their highest point total since Mitch Trubisky’s six-touchdown game in a 48-10 win over the Buccaneers in 2018 and the 576 yards of offense was sixth-most in team history.