5 winners from Bears' dominant Week 6 victory over Jaguars

After a rough start to Week 6's game in London, the Chicago Bears locked in and cruised to a 35-16 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. For the first time since 2013, the Bears scored 35 or more points in back-to-back games. In this battle of former first overall picks, I think it's fair to say that Chicago has finally found its franchise quarterback. More on him later.

The defense also deserves some major props for this one. They forced two fumbles and recovered one (they've now recovered six of seven forced fumbles on the year) and came away with an interception on Trevor Lawrence. This was also the 12th consecutive game in which the Bears have surrendered 21 points or fewer.

If there's a downside to this game, it's that the Bears' defense is pretty banged up right now. Jaquan Brisker and Tyrique Stevenson were already ruled out before Sunday, and during the game Kyler Gordon was taken to the locker room and quickly ruled out. Fortunately the Bears will now have their bye week to get healthy.

In a game like this, when the Bears hit all three of my keys to victory and ran away with a win, it's hard to choose who gets a game ball, but I'll try my best.

1. Matt Eberflus

I'm giving this first one to the head coach because it's time Bears fans be honest. Is he the best coach? No. Will he be here for the long haul? That remains to be seen. But he's a defensive-minded head coach and his defense is among the very best in the league. As I said before, they've recovered six of seven forced fumbles and lead the league in takeaways since 2023. They haven't surrendered more than 21 points since November 19th of last year.

This is Eberflus' defense and it's firing on all cylinders. So today a special game ball goes to the mastermind behind this juggernaut.

2. Caleb Williams

What else is there to say about the rookie phenom? After a rough start to the season, Caleb Williams has locked in and been one of the very best quarterbacks in the league. In today's dominant win, he made just one egregious error, a brutal pick in the first quarter, but was nearly flawless the rest of the way.

He finished the day 23-of-29 passing for 226 yards, 4 touchdowns, and a 124.4 rating. He's now on pace to finish his rookie year with 3,731 yards and 26 touchdowns, which would be one of the best seasons in franchise history.

3. Keenan Allen

Allen showed some real chemistry with Williams on Sunday, catching all five of his targets for 41 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the second of which came with some nifty toe-drag-swag. He also picked up a couple of crucial first downs on quick throws from Williams.

4. Josh Blackwell

Let's give some love to the backup cornerback, Josh Blackwell. After Kyler Gordon left the game with a leg injury, marking the third starter in the secondary to be ruled out for Sunday's game, Blackwell stepped up and helped the defense keep the Jaguars on their heels. He also pulled in a nice interception in the second half.

5. Cole Kmet

This last game ball goes to a man who apparently wears many hats. After Scott Daly, Chicago's long snapper, left the game with a knee injury, Kmet was plugged in to that position and did a solid job. While long snappers are routinely overlooked, it's still a pivotal part of the special teams unit and losing that piece can be a big problem.

Oh yeah, and Kmet also casually pulled in all five of his targets for 70 yards and two touchdowns.

Honorable Mentions:

D'Andre Swift was excellent again, posting 119 scrimmage yards and one touchdown. I've never been so happy for a player to prove me wrong as I am with Swift. And an honorable mention for Elijah Hicks, the 2022 7th-round safety who filled in for Brisker. He made some nice plays on Sunday, including a fumble recovery that really got the ball rolling for Chicago.