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CHICAGO – The Bears were overwhelming favorites heading into Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns. That made sense, considering the Browns’ struggles and the fact the Bears have proven competitive against NFL playoff contenders.

Cleveland had game-disrupting talent in Myles Garrett, but its offensive line was decimated by injury. So was its defensive backfield.

That set up the Bears for success and the real possibility of cruising to victory. They did exactly that, asserting dominance early and establishing a first-quarter lead they never relinquished in a 31-3 win at Soldier Field.

Here are three things we learned about the Bears (10-4) in this Week 15 win over the hapless Browns (3-11):

Taking care of business

This game wasn’t a must-win, but it was a helpful result in the Bears’ quest for 11 wins and the playoff berth they believe will come with it. They needed to keep pace with their NFC competition, which is fierce at this stage.

This visit by the Browns, sandwiched between two games against the NFC North rival Green Bay Packers, could have been a trap. The Bears resisted that notion all week, though, saying they were singularly focused on Cleveland despite the NFL’s longest rivalry being a frequent topic of conversation.

The Bears were supposed to win this game, and they did after proving to be the superior team over the course of four quarters. There had several wow plays and proved to be adept at making the big ones.

We’ll get to Caleb Williams‘ big moments in a bit, but this 17-yard D’Andre Swift touchdown run sums up the day well. The third-quarter play was well-designed and well-executed, illustrating the firm control the Bears had on this game from the outset.

Passing game shows progress

It wasn’t long ago that the passing game was the missing link to the Bears being an excellent football team. Head coach Ben Johnson said before Week 14 that his team was winning in spite of its passing attack, not because of it.

The air attack didn’t get better right away, with first-half struggles apparent in last week’s loss to the Packers. Williams cranked it up in the second half of that game, but he ended up throwing an interception that sealed Green Bay’s victory.

The Bears QB was humming to start Sunday’s game, with in-rhythm, explosive passes to Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland and DJ Moore. That early work included this dime to Moore for a touchdown.

Williams has dealt with accuracy issues this season but not on this day. He was on top of things while establishing a lead, showing real promise that should give fans confidence he can be an impactful player down the stretch.

Williams finished with 242 passing yards and a 112.5 passer rating. While he wasn’t as efficient in the second half, he made one of his best throws of the season on this second TD pass to Moore.

Pigeons become every-down players

Sunday’s game never was really in doubt, taking drama from the event to an extreme that a flock of pigeons became a major focus of this game.

Three birds feasted on the Soldier Field turf for most of this game, narrowly avoiding contact with players on several occasions. A fourth eventually joined the crew, frequently avoiding the on-field play by just a few yards.

It shortly became clear that the pigeons couldn’t figure how to exit the stadium, and they simply kept moving just outside the realm of play while munching on some grass. They had a great view of a Bears beatdown, with Chicago taking care of business against a vastly inferior team that didn’t come to play.

There were times when the birds were so close that defenders shooed them away, and they became a topic of conversation on the game broadcast. They (unfortunately) found an exit at halftime, but they were every-down contributors to the first-half fun.

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