Bears bounce back with offensive onslaught in win over Cowboys

The Bears corrected the course on Sunday, bouncing back from an 0-2 start to defeat the Cowboys 31-14. The win at Soldier Field improves Chicago’s record to 1-2 and gives Ben Johnson his first win as the team’s head coach.

Matt Eberflus returned to Soldier Field as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator, and it was hardly a return to remember. Johnson and the Bears’ offense gave him fits all afternoon, putting together one of the strongest performances they’ve had on that side of the ball in recent memory. Even with some inconsistency from the Bears’ defense, their offense was strong enough to come away with the comfortable win.

Here are some of the takeaways from the Bears’ first win of the 2025 season.

The Bears’ offense was extremely effective on Sunday, coming close to 400 total yards and putting up 31 points. Their deep arsenal of weapons was on full display against the Cowboys, as nine different players ended up with carries or receptions. Luther Burden was utilized well as a dynamic gadget threat, Rome Odunze solidified himself as the WR1 for the offense, and both DJ Moore and Cole Kmet contributed with receiving touchdowns.

Chicago’s offensive line deserves a lot of credit for how they protected Caleb Williams, as well. He wasn’t sacked once all afternoon, and he was only hit once on his passing attempts. They gave their quarterback plenty of room and plenty of time to work in the pocket, and that reflected in the scoreboard.

Heading into Week 3, Tyrique Stevenson had given up a perfect 158.3 passer rating when targeted through the first two games of the 2025 season. His struggles to this point have been well-documented, and with Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon both out, he was forced into the CB1 role suddenly.

Stevenson bounced back against the Cowboys on Sunday. He finished the game with two pass deflections and fared much better than many expected him to, both in coverage and as a tackler. That’s hardly to say he was perfect, but he looked much more comfortable in man coverage and stuck with his assignments pretty consistently. That’s an encouraging step for a team whose cornerback room has been ravaged by injuries.

If there’s one thing that kept the Cowboys in the game for the first three quarters, it was their success up front. The Bears failed to generate much pressure in the pass rush, and Javonte Williams consistently had open running lanes to work with in between the tackles. Luckily, Chicago’s offense was able to kill a lot of clock in the third quarter, which put the pressure on Dallas to abandon the run with a deficit.

The Bears’ passing attack looked strong on Sunday, and perhaps the most dangerous thing is that Caleb Williams still has a lot of room for improvement.

There were a handful of passes where Williams overthrew his target. There were a few plays where his anticipation wasn’t quite where it needed to be. And he still threw four touchdowns. If that doesn’t speak to the efficiency of Ben Johnson’s offense, I don’t know what does.

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