BOX SCORE

LAS VEGAS — The Bears have an early bye. Like, as early as you can have one.

They wanted to enter their Week 5 siesta with an even record, a two-game winning streak and a surge of positivity.

That wouldn’t be easy. The Las Vegas Raiders played a spirited, physical brand of football that the Bears couldn’t match at the line of scrimmage.

Chicago stayed in the game Sunday at Allegiant Stadium despite those facts, with a tight game entering halftime even after litany of offensive mistakes.

They kept grinding away at the Raiders and eventually earned a hard-fought 25-24 win. It was earned in dramatic fashion, with a fourth-quarter comeback and Josh Blackwell blocking Daniel Carlson’s go-ahead 54-yard field-goal attempt with 38 seconds left.

Let’s look at three things we learned as the Bears improved to 2-2 with the win over the 1-3 Raiders:

Caleb Williams works his magic

Caleb Williams is growing and developing as an NFL quarterback right before our eyes. The talent has shined for a while with some inconsistency, and the Bears’ second-year pro was far from perfect in this game.

But he stood tall when it mattered most. He drove the Bears down the field late in the fourth quarter, worked the ball into the red zone and set up D’Andre Swift’s game-winning 2-yard touchdown run, completing a day in which he completed 22 of 37 passes for 212 yards and was sacked only once.

The Bears played from behind most of the afternoon, but Williams kept them in it with some evasive scrambling and strong throws down the field. A 27-yard TD shot to Rome Odunze might’ve been his best, giving the Bears a 16-14 third-quarter lead.

Unlocking the clutch gene will be huge for the Bears, because their quarterback has the talent and moxie to come through when he’s needed.

Not many points off takeaways

The Bears’ defense gave up a lot of yards, especially on the ground, as the Raiders racked up 240 on 31 carries — a 7.7-yard average. While that was a negative development, coordinator Dennis Allen’s unit made some big plays when it mattered most.

They had four takeaways for the second consecutive game, many of them at important times. Kevin Byard III made two interceptions — more on him in a bit — and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had another one with an incredible diving effort to open the second half.

Andrew Billings also forced a fumble that Stevenson recovered at the Raiders’ 20 in the first quarter, but Williams gave the ball back to Vegas when Maxx Crosby tipped a pass to himself for an interception.

The Bears scored just 13 points off those four takeaways, keeping the score close late in the game.

Byard’s big day

Byard had himself a day, reading Raiders quarterback Geno Smith as well as could be done, with two first-half interceptions.

The Bears’ veteran safety jumped a route on the first Raiders possession and returned it into Las Vegas territory.

The Bears turned that play into a Cairo Santos field goal.

Byard’s next pick came in the second quarter and was set up well for a pick six. He had blocking in front of him, but he eventually was brought down at the Raiders’ 24.

The Bears’ offense settled for another Santos field goal, though.

Byard now has three interceptions on the season, pairing these two with last week’s interception that sealed a 31-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

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