Yahoo Sports Staff Updated Sun, October 18, 2026 at 7:41 PM UTC About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In this story He's back.
The Chicago Bears will take on the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon with their starting quarterback back under center.
Caleb Williams suffered a hamstring strain in Week 2 that has sidelined him for the last three games. Williams participated in full practices each day this week, and with no reported setbacks, he will see his first game action in nearly a month. Without their starting quarterback, the Bears went 2-1 with Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum under center.
Atlanta is no stranger to quarterback injuries. Michael Penix Jr. is set to start this game , despite a rib injury he picked up during the Falcons' overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens last week.
Penix took a hard hit on Atlanta's final drive of regulation but only left for one play. During the break between that drive and the Falcons' first overtime drive, Penix realized he couldn't play through the injury, and Tua Tagovailoa came into the game. After a 20-yard completion, Tagovailoa threw a pick, and the game was over.
Chicago has a 3-2 record and is tied for second in the NFC North, trailing the still undefeated Minnesota Vikings. Atlanta is 2-3 and second in the NFC South, behind only the Carolina Panthers, who have a slight edge partly because they had their bye week last week.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more as the Bears and Falcons face off in Week 6, airing on Fox.
The Falcons faced fourth and 10 on their own 34-yard line down 31-7. Michael Penix hit Zachariah Branch for a gain of five, and the Falcons were called for offensive holding.
The penalty was declined, and Chicago took over on the Atlanta side of the field with 14:32 left and up 24.
Chicago took over in great field position after recovering an Atlanta fumble. The Bears offense just ate time off the clock and ended with Cairo Santos hitting a 50-yard field goal.
Chicago leads 31-7 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Chicago extends its lead to 21 with a short rushing touchdown by Roschon Johnson.
With the injury delay, this game still has 1:48 left in the third quarter.
Bijan Robinson picked up four total yards on two carries. Michael Penix was sacked and fumbled the ball.
The Falcons were able to recover it, but facing fourth and 13 from their own 3, had to punt.
Chicago leads 21-7 with 4:38 left in the third quarter.
After the lengthy delay to tend to the injured Falcons defender, the Chicago drive fizzled out.
It looked like the Bears had a big play by Colston Loveland, but he was whistled for offensive pass interference. The play was a fourth-down attempt, but after the extra yardage was added, Chicago opted to punt.
There was a serious injury in the Bears-Falcons game. Kendal Daniels reportedly took a knee to the helmet.
Daniels was ruled out due to a neck injury.
The Falcons got the benefit of a fresh set of downs after a roughing-the-kicker penalty.
Atlanta couldn't do anything with it. Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski saw his team facing fourth-and-3, down 21-7, on the Bears' 28-yard line.
Stefanski opted to go for it, but Michael Penix had an incompletion to Drake London, and Atlanta turned the ball over.
It looked like Atlanta was going to begin the second half with a punt. Chicxago was then called for roughing the kicker on the punt attempt and were awardd 15 yards which was enough for a first down.
Atlanta ran only four official plays, but penalties forced the Falcons into a 3rd-and-20 situation. A 17-yard run by Bijan Robinson wasn't able to get a fresh set of downs, and Atlanta punted back to the Bears right before halftime.
Chicago didn't do anything with the extra possession and just took the game to halftime.
The Bears offense did not squander the opportunity given to them from the Falcons' special teams unit muffing the punt.
Chicago ran three plays, with the final being a two-yard touchdown run by D'Andre Swift, his second of the game.
The Bears are now up 21-7 with 1:26 left in the first half.
It looked like Atlanta was going to get the chance for a two-minute drill before halftime.
Zachariah Branch muffed the punt, though, and the Bears were able to recover it on the 10-yard line.
Atlanta's offense has finally tallied some points. After Drake London's huge gain set up the offense, Michael Penix Jr. hit Jahan Dotson, who had an impressive contested catch for the 13-yard score.
The Falcons now trail 14-7 with 5:45 left in the first half.
On the very first play after Chicago's missed field goal, Penix Jr. hit Drake London for a big 39-yard gain to get into the red zone.
Chicago scored back-to-back touchdowns to begin the game, but have now had consecutive drives end without punts
The Bears' most recent drive lasted five plays, and the offense picked up just 18 yards before attempting a 56-yard field goal. Cairo Santos' attempt went wide left.
Welp, spoke too soon. The Chicago defense stepped up big.
After Robinson's big gain, Michael Penix had an incompletion, a six-yard completion to Kyle Pitts, and then Bijan Robinson lost a yard.
Atlanta head coach Kevin Stefanski opted to go for it on fourth and five, but Penix's pass was hit down at the line for a turnover on downs.
Bijan Robinson did his best to wake up the Falcons offense against the Bears. In the second quarter, Robinson had a nine-yard gain, and then took over for 24 yards on the next play.
Atlanta still trails 14-0 with 10:50 left in the first half, but the Falcons' offense is showing signs of life.
Penix was able to stay in the game after a brief stint in the medical tent.
His first play on the next drive was a 5-yard pass to Drake London. The Falcons then lost three yards on a Bijan Robinson reception and Penix had an incompletion.
As the second quarter started, Atlanta was forced to punt, still trailing 14-0.
He doesn't appear to be coming out of the game, but Michael Penix Jr. was checked out in the medical tent during Chicago's last drive.
Last week against Baltimore, he picked up a rib injury that caused him to miss the Falcons' overtime possession.
D'Andre Swift capped off a 9-play, 59-yard touchdown drive by running in a score from four yards out.
Williams is already showing what has been missing for the Bears since he was hurt in Week 2.
Facing third and 17, Williams connected with Rome Odunze for a first down.
Odunze picked up 23 yards, and then Williams immediately found Luther Burden for a 25-yard gain through the air.
Source: Sports
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