5 big takeaways from Chicago Bears’ win over Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in London

LONDON – Caleb Williams was on fire.

Williams threw for four touchdown passes Sunday in a Chicago Bears win, 35-16, over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Four touchdowns marked a career high for the rookie No. 1 overall draft pick. It was the first time that a Bears rookie quarterback had thrown for at least three touchdown passes since Cade McNown in 1999 (McNown had games of three and four touchdowns in 1999).

Here are the five big takeaways from Sunday’s game.

1. Not one, not two, not three...

For the third week in a row, Williams might have played his best game yet as a pro. It feels repetitive to keep saying that, but he really did. A four-touchdown performance easily has to be the best game of Williams’ young career, even with an interception mixed in there.

Williams finished his day 23-for-29 passing for 226 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. Tight end Cole Kmet and receiver Keenan Allen each caught two touchdowns.

Sure, it came against a Jaguars defense that entered the day ranked dead last in the league in passing yards against. Good quarterbacks, though, will take advantage of bad defenses. Right now, Williams is starting to look like a good quarterback.

The one interception easily could’ve gone the other way. Williams had DJ Moore open deep, but threw well short of his target.

That fueled him the rest of the day. Following the interception, Williams led four consecutive touchdown-scoring drives.

“I was a bit pissed off after that, and I think reset myself was important,” Williams said. “But still having in the back of my mind, can’t have that happen again, and let’s go out here and go score.”

Williams now has nine touchdown passes in six games to start the season. The Bears rookie record is 11 touchdown passes. Charlie O’Rourke is the only Bears rookie QB to throw for double-digit touchdown passes, and he set that record in 1942.

2. Kmet’s angry run

Tight end Cole Kmet would not be stopped.

The Bears ran a nice double-fake with Williams feigning throws to two different targets before finding Kmet wide open over the middle of the field. The play design was impressive, but Kmet’s run after the catch was even more impressive.

Kmet busted through one would-be tackler and carried another with him on the way to a diving touchdown. It went down as a 31-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Kmet. The angry run set the tone for the day.

“For my skill set, [I’m] always like trying to run things over,” Kmet said after the game.

Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron might’ve stolen it from the 49ers, who ran the same play against his Seahawks in 2022.

Kmet scored two touchdowns in the game, adding a second one on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Williams just before halftime. It was the fifth multi-touchdown game of Kmet’s career.

3. Long snapper goes down

When Bears long snapper Scott Daly exited the game with a knee injury, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower made sure to let Kmet know. Kmet thought Hightower was talking about receiver Tyler Scott. For a second, he didn’t quite comprehend. Then it dawned on him.

“[I] went down and immediately started firing snaps between my legs,” Kmet said.

Kmet is the team’s emergency long snapper. NFL teams typically keep only one long snapper on the roster. Kicker Cairo Santos said the Bears work with Kmet, the emergency long snapper, and backup QB Tyson Bagent, the emergency holder, every week – just in case.

When Kmet scored his two touchdowns, he stayed on the field and snapped the ball on the extra points.

“You have to have somebody that can be the emergency and I’m that guy, reluctantly, at times,” Kmet said. “I get my two or three snaps in on Thursdays.”

When Kmet reached the NFL in 2020, his coaches – remember, these guys study everything about draft prospects – knew he served as the long snapper in high school.

Santos said the Jaguars were rushing harder than usual on kicks. The Jaguars blocked a field goal try late in the game, but otherwise the Bears had no issues. Kmet never had to snap a punt.

“When you’ve got a different operation, they’re coming every extra point,” Santos said.

4. Banged up secondary

The Bears were already down two starters in the secondary to start the day. Safety Jaquan Brisker (concussion) and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (calf) were both ruled out ahead of the game. Brisker didn’t travel with the team to London. Stevenson hurt his calf in practice this week.

Backup Elijah Hicks started in place of Brisker, while Jaylon Jones played for Stevenson. As if that wasn’t bad enough, nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon left the game with a hamstring injury in the third quarter and did not return. Josh Blackwell played in place of Gordon.

So for much of the second half, the Bears were forced to play with three backups in the secondary. Hicks and Blackwell made the most of it, too. Blackwell caught an interception and Hicks recovered a fumble.

It says a lot about our depth. I think that’s what’s so special about us. We’ve got a bunch of guys that could be starters at other places.”

—  Josh Blackwell, Bears cornerback

“It says a lot about our depth,” Blackwell said. “I think that’s what’s so special about us. We’ve got a bunch of guys that could be starters at other places. I think it’s special when you’ve got a group of guys that can come together, know their role and make the most of it.”

Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for two touchdown passes in the second half, but the Jaguars simply couldn’t stop the Bears offense.

5. An electric atmosphere

NFL games in London are unlike any other experience in football. The crowd in Tottenham was fired up. Bears fans heavily outweighed Jacksonville fans in the building. Everyone in the building could feel it when the Bears took the field, and any time the Jaguars offense faced a third down.

There was also a smattering of all sorts of NFL jerseys as NFL fans from across Europe traveled to the game. A total of 61,182 fans packed the stands. The loudest moment might have come during the United Kingdom’s national anthem, “God Save the King.” Anybody who knew the words was singing.

But Bears fans definitely gave their team a boost, and the players felt it. The Bears are used to hearing their fans in every stadium they travel to. Still, seeing so many travel more nearly 4,000 miles is impressive.

“Not surprising at all,” linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. “Our fans travel. We feel the energy from our fans and that’s what helped us do what we did today. Just hearing that energy, feeling the love and going out there and taking momentum.”