“I love D’Andre,” Williams said. “Being able to get him going is really important for us and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Williams had a solid game in his return to his hometown, completing 17 of 29 passes for 252 yards with one touchdown, no turnovers and a 98.6 passer rating.
“Being able to get a win like that is big for us,” Williams said. “It’s a heck of a team out there, so to be able to come out victorious from a dogfight where things weren’t perfect, where the weather wasn’t perfect… that’s big for us. I feel good.”
The Bears offense scored 10 points on two defensive putbacks to take a 13-0 lead into the second quarter. The defense held the NFL’s No. 1-ranked rushing attack to 124 yards, 32 yards below its average, and sacked Daniels three times.
“The lessons learned were huge for us,” Johnson said. “I think (defensive coordinator) Dennis Allen and the defensive staff did a phenomenal job of putting together a solid game plan. It’s a very difficult offense to try to give answers to, and yet they were able to come up with something that we liked. And then the guys came out and executed it the best they could, so big credit to them.”
The Bears overcame penalties on both sides of the ball.
In the second quarter, the defense had seemingly forced a punt after Daniels threw an incomplete pass on third-and-6 from the Chicago 48. But a facemask penalty on Wright resulted in an automatic first down, and Daniels eventually threw a 22-yard TD pass to receiver Chris Moore to cut the deficit to 13-7.
The Bears led 13-10 midway through the third quarter when Williams threw an apparent 11-yard pass to receiver Rome Odunze that would have given it another two-point lead. But the play was nullified by an illegal formation penalty and Moody followed with a 41-yard field goal that made the score 16-10.
Moody excelled early, scoring a 47-yard field goal on the game’s first possession to give the Bears a 3-0 lead.
