CHICAGO – The Bears dominated every aspect of Sunday’s 31-14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field.

Quarterback Caleb Williams was throwing darts. Head coach Ben Johnson’s creative play calls paid dividends, and he was scheming guys open. The defense took the ball away four times and generated a solid pass rush.

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It was a game the Bears needed after an 0-2 start and was a product of the work they put in during the week. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said he saw it coming. Safety Kevin Byard III believes this game tape should sew a new expectation for how the Bears should play each week.

Tight end Cole Kmet said the Bears fan base can be a bit bipolar, swinging the pendulum all the way back and forth.

“They’re probably a little too high right now,” Kmet said with a smile.

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Maybe that’s justified. The Bears gave them plenty to celebrate with a fun, effective brand of football. Let’s grade them out in this Week 3 Bears report card.

Rushing offense

A look at the box score suggests a ho-hum performance from the Bears ground game. It produced a total of 87 yards on 29 carries, good for three yards per carry. Snooze. That doesn’t amount to much, especially with D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai largely inefficient. Johnson was committed to it, and the run game was a closer at the end of this game.

He called 11 straight runs on a 19-play drive that devoured 76 yards and nearly 10 minutes off the clock. That was important to the overall outcome, which counts for something. Improvement is required moving forward, but the run game was impactful even if it wasn’t efficient.

Grade: B

Passing offense

Caleb Williams was awesome in this one, completing 68% of his passes for 298 yards, four touchdowns and a 142.6 passer rating. Johnson was scheming trick plays and smartly designed route combinations. Williams completed passes to eight individuals, and was good in clutch moments. He found times to play within structure and times to make some magic happen off-schedule. It was a solid overall performance that played to strengths and found ways to get some dynamic skill players involved.

Grade: A

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Rushing defense

Cowboys’ rusher Javonte Williams runs hard and rarely goes down at first contact. That led to a 6.1 yards per carry average. That’s not great. The Bears didn’t let the ground game take over, though, with enough of a lead built that the Cowboys couldn’t rely solely on the run.

Tyrique Stevenson also made a huge play ripping the ball out of Javonte Williams’ hands in a tide-turning takeaway.

That’s a good thing, considering how Javonte Williams was running. Overall, though, the run defense must get tightened up in future weeks if the Bears are to have longer-term success.

Grade: B-

Passing defense

It’s hard to argue with the results here. Tremaine Edmunds had two athletic interceptions. Kevin Byard III had another one to officially ice this game. The Bears sacked Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott on a blitz and a four-man rush. They hit him seven times in total. That’s a strong showing after struggling to generate a pass rush in Week 2. The pass rush and coverage – especially without cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon and linebacker T.J. Edwards – was as important as anything in the outcome of this game.

Grade: A

Special teams

The kicking game produced some solid work, with Cairo Santos connecting on a 30-yard field goal and Tory Taylor averaging 37.0 net per punt with one placed inside the 20. The best work might’ve been limiting Cowboys reigning first-team All-Pro KaVontae Turpin to some pedestrian return stats. Staying away from the big play was vital for the coverage units and they were able to do that.

Grade: B

Coaching

Ben Johnson earned his first game as a head coach with an expertly crafted game plan that produced creative results. His players complimented Ben Johnson and how open they were most of the day. Dennis Allen knew when to blitz and when to bring four, with some impactful personnel packages that added an extra defensive linemen or a third safety to help improve success. It was an excellent effort from both play callers, who had their guys ready to go on Sunday.

Grade: A+

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