Yahoo Sports Staff Updated Sun, October 18, 2026 at 6:50 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.
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.
The quarterback avoided the pressure from the defense and fired a pass to his tight end, Colston Loveland, for the 14-yard score.
Chicago takes an early 7-0 lead over Atlanta in the first quarter.
Caleb Williams hit Rome Odunze for a two-yard gain when the offense needed 11. The wide receiver then pitched it back to running back Roschon Johnson, who took it for an additional 12 yards and the first down.
During pre-game warmups, Falcons players were spotted wearing shirts that said: "I play for Cristina Ulbrich."
The shirts support defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich's late wife, Cristina. She passed this past summer after a long battle with cancer.
The Chicago Bears expect to have their starting quarterback available for Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.
ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Saturday afternoon that Caleb Williams has had no setbacks, and all signs point to him starting Sunday.
Williams has been sidelined for the last three weeks. The Chicago QB suffered a hamstring injury in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings. When Williams went down at the end of the game, his reaction led many to worry he would miss significant time.
That sends backup Tyson Bagent and QB3 Case Keenum back to the bench.
Here's a full list at the inactives for Bears-Falcons:
It's always notable where respected bettors have landed on this week's games. While these prices may not currently be available at all sportsbooks, knowing where sharps have wagered can also be instructive for in-game wagering.
Yahoo Sports conversed with several bookmakers over the course of this week, and here is where some sharp action has been (and the numbers it came in at):
Chargers +7.5, Chiefs-Chargers under 42.5
Source: Sports
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