Week 6: Chicago Bears roll in London 35-16 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

LONDON — The Chicago Bears celebrated their dominance in London with a tea party Sunday afternoon at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Early in the third quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen caught a 9-yard dart from Caleb Williams for a touchdown and immediately motioned for his teammates to sit beside him. The circle of players then pretended to sip tea.

It was that kind of a fun day for the Bears, who blew out the Jaguars 35-16 in their first international trip since 2019.

Williams threw four touchdown passes — two to tight end Cole Kmet and two to Allen — and finished 23 of 29 for 226 yards and a 124.4 passer rating. He also rushed for 56 yards.

Despite playing the second half without three starters in their secondary, the Bears defense had two takeaways after halftime: a forced fumble by T.J. Edwards and recovery by Elijah Hicks and an interception by backup nickel Josh Blackwell.

Blackwell replaced Kyler Gordon, who was ruled out in the second half with a hamstring injury after the Bears started the game without safety Jaquan Brisker and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. Blackwell picked off Trevor Lawrence early in the fourth quarter, and the Bears eventually scored on a 1-yard D’Andre Swift run for a 35-10 lead.

Allen’s 9-yarder also capitalized on a Bears takeaway early in the third quarter.

On the Jaguars’ first play from scrimmage after halftime, Edwards forced Evan Engram to fumble and Hicks recovered. That gave the Bears the ball at the Jaguars 41, and they pulled ahead 21-3 on Allen’s touchdown.

The Jaguars responded with an 11-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, capped by Lawrence’s 21-yard pass to Gabe Davis, to cut the lead to 21-10.

But Williams found Allen again for a 3-yard touchdown to put the Bears up 28-10. The drive included three defensive penalties.

Williams and Kmet connected on two first-half touchdowns. Kmet also served as the long snapper for most of the game, filling in for Scott Daly, who suffered a knee injury in the first quarter.

Lawrence completed 23 of 35 passes for 234 yards. He hit Davis again for a 5-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

• ‘Super dynamic’ rookie quarterback Caleb Williams sends the Chicago Bears home from London on a high
• Column: 5 catches, 2 TDs … 6 long snaps? How Cole Kmet hit a curveball in the Chicago Bears’ blowout win.

Here’s how the game unfolded.

Inactives

Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson will not play Sunday against the Jaguars. The Bears listed Stevenson as doubtful to play Friday after he injured his calf in practice during the week.

His absence is a blow to an already depleted secondary. Starting safety Jaquan Brisker will miss the game with a concussion after a hard hit in the Week 5 win over the Carolina Panthers. Backup cornerback Terell Smith remains out with a hip injury that forced him to miss the last two games.

Jaylon Jones could start in Stevenson’s place, while Elijah Hicks will replace Brisker.

Right guard Nate Davis is also a healthy scratch for the first time this season.

Davis started 11 games for the Bears last season and came into the season as the potential starter at right guard. But after making two starts this season, he was replaced in the lineup by Matt Pryor. Last week against the Panthers, the Bears turned to Bill Murray as guard depth before Davis.

Left guard Teven Jenkins will play after he battled an ankle injury all week and was listed as questionable.

The Bears previously declared out defensive tackle Zacch Pickens (groin). Wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. and defensive end Dominique Robinson are also inactive.

For the Jaguars, defensive end Myles Cole, offensive linemen Javon Foster and Cole Van Lanen and defensive tackles Tyler Lacy and Jeremiah Ledbetter are inactive.

Tight end Evan Engram and wide receiver Gabe Davis, who were listed as questionable, are active.

Halftime: Caleb Williams has 184 total yards as Bears lead 14-3

Quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 128 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 56 yards to drive the Bears to a 14-3 halftime lead against the Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Williams and tight end Cole Kmet connected on both first-half touchdowns.

On the final drive of the half, Williams rushed for a 24-yard gain, then found Rome Odunze for a 12-yard pass and Keenan Allen for a 10-yarder. He scrambled for a 19-yard gain to the Jaguars 2-yard line.

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After the Bears used their final timeout with 17 seconds left, Williams hit Kmet for a 2-yard touchdown.

Earlier in the second quarter, Williams hit a wide-open Kmet, who scrapped to get across the goal line for a 31-yard touchdown. Kmet then snapped on the extra point, which was good for a 7-3 Bears lead.

Kmet had to snap because long snapper Scott Daly went down with a knee injury during a first-quarter punt. He walked off the field slowly and went to the locker room. The Bears very quickly ruled him out.

The Bears defense, meanwhile, held the Jaguars to 111 yards in the first half.

The Bears thought they had a takeaway in the second quarter when linebacker Tremaine Edmunds stripped Travis Etienne and recovered. But a review ruled it was an incomplete pass.

Instead, the Jaguars got the only takeaway of the half when safety Andre Cisco intercepted Williams on a deep shot intended for DJ Moore on third-and-1 from the Jacksonville 41. Cisco returned it 22 yards to the 29 before Roschon Johnson tackled him.

But the Bears defense got the ball back quickly for the offense.

The Jaguars scored their only points on their first drive. They had first-and-goal at the 8-yard line, but the Bears defense held them to Cam Little’s 30-yard field goal. Safety Elijah Hicks made a big pass breakup against Gabe Davis in the end zone on third down.

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The two sides of the Bears’ London trip

In the weeklong lead-up to Sunday’s game against the Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Bears have conducted two types of business.

Charles Tillman and other Bears alumni, including tight end Zach Miller, who also made an appearance at the pub Friday, have served in the forward-facing, promotional role for the Bears, who have international marketing rights in the UK and Spain. The events include football clinics for local kids, merchandise releases and fan-focused nights at Greenwood.

Thirty-one miles from the pub, tucked away in a countryside resort, coach Matt Eberflus, his assistants and players have been conducting the behind-the-scenes football work, the practicing and planning they want to lead to their third straight win.

The Bears hope that the work of both sides of the organization not only pleases fans who made the trip from Chicago to London — but helps them grow their fan base internationally. Read more here.

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What we’ve seen — and heard — in England

The little brother has piped up of late, and from the vantage point of DJ Moore, it’s all part of the maturation process for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

The veteran wide receiver made that reference on Wednesday afternoon. The Bears are feeling pretty good about how things are developing for Williams. His passer rating has improved in each game since Week 2 and he’s played turnover-free ball the last two weeks. Now, the Bears prepare to face a Jacksonville defense that is last in the league in pass defense, allowing an average of 287.8 passing yards per game.

“It’s amazing,” Moore said. “He’s taken those strides that he needs to. He’s been bossy lately, telling us that we need to be in on the details. We really do for him to be the best player he needs to be.”

The 22-year-old rookie is bossy?

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‘It’s planes, trains, automobiles — all that stuff’

Coach Matt Eberflus and his staff determined a Monday night departure to London would be best for the players and coaches, allowing them ample time to adjust to the six-hour time difference. Eberflus said he went to Italy over the summer and found out how difficult it can be to get over jet lag.

“Just to get over there and get our clocks right,” Eberflus said. “That’s the big science part of it.”

Eberflus’ weeklong schedule is a change from what the Bears did in 2019 under former coach Matt Nagy for a Sunday night game against the then-Oakland Raiders. Those Bears took a Thursday night flight that arrived Friday morning and had one practice in London on Friday. The Bears lost 24-21 behind quarterback Chase Daniel.

• Jaguars — delayed by Hurricane Milton — arrive in England for Sunday’s game against the Bears

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‘How often does one person get to put a dent in the football universe like he has?’

Standing on the sideline at the 5-yard line with his back to the field, Nathan Chapman could boomerang kick a football over his head and — get this — through the uprights at the Packers practice fields.⁠ John Bonamego, the Packers special teams coordinator at the time, swears it happened. He witnessed it. With amazement.⁠
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The Packers wound up releasing 28-year-old former Australian rules football player after the preseason. In the next two years, Chapman had a tryout with the Bears during rookie minicamp in 2005 and a workout for the Bengals. No offers materialized.⁠
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While Chapman ran out of resources, he wasn’t short on ideas. He knew guys who could adapt to punting. He had an inkling of what the NFL was seeking and figured he could train them.⁠ He asked Bonamego and John Dorsey, then the Packers college scouting director whose idea it was to give Chapman a look in Green Bay, if they’d be interested in checking out punters he worked with. Absolutely, they said.⁠
⁠
That’s how ProKick Australia, the supplier of an increasing number of college and NFL punters — including Bears rookie Tory Taylor — was born.⁠

About Week 5

Quarterback Caleb Williams achieved a first on Sunday at Soldier Field — leading the Bears to a blowout victory.

The Bears jumped to a 20-point halftime lead and cruised to a 36-10 rout of the Panthers, improving to 3-2. Williams threw for 304 yards — including 200 in the first half — on 20-for-29 passing.

After their slow start together was a storyline all week leading up to the game, Williams and wide receiver DJ Moore connected for first-half touchdown passes of 34 and 30 yards. Moore, playing against the team that traded him away in the 2023 offseason, had five catches for 105 yards.

• Caleb Williams navigated the wind — and the Bears won their 8th straight at home. Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on Week 5.
• ‘That’s what it’s supposed to look like.’ No-doubt win is what the Bears have been working toward.