Final Word: The Chicago Bears passed a big test vs. Jacksonville. But are they ready for NFC North play?

In the city of Chicago, wonders never cease.

Three days ago, the Northern Lights shined bright across the city's night sky in an abnormal event, but one that only happens here.

Ruth Chepngetich shattered the world record in the Chicago Marathon by two minutes on Sunday, breaking the 2:10 barrier with a final time of 2:09:56.

And, now most shocking of all to nihilists, the Chicago Bears may have a modern-day NFL offense with a quarterback that's proving to be unbreakable.

Whenever you think there's something that can't be done, Chicago has a wonder or two up its sleeve.

"Throughout this whole process of these past couple games we've had, I think I've been seeing it well," Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said. 

After a four-touchdown day and a 35-16 romp over the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Bears passed a test on Sunday. 

The team is 4-2 heading into the bye week when they'll get some much-needed rest, but the biggest question still remains: are these Bears good enough to contend in a talented NFC North?

After the Bears scored 30 points for the second week in a row and trampled another offense, this time with second-string defenders, the Chicago Bears have earned the benefit of the doubt at least.

They've hung with the NFC North through six weeks. The Bears are ready to take on the Vikings, Packers and Lions after dates with Arizona and Washington following their week off.

"We've got a lot of improvements to do but for the first six games, I think we're in a good spot," Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said. "We have to get our minds, our bodies and everything else right."

It's easy to peek at the 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars and simply look over them.

They're struggling, they have a bad pass defense and make too many mistakes to win football games consistently. That was evident with the Jaguars' two turnovers and eight total penalties for 43 yards.

But, the Bears needed to win this game with second-string defensive players in their secondary after Jaquan Brisker and Tyrique Stevenson were ruled out before the game and Kyler Gordon left the game with a hamstring injury.

The Bears also needed to win this game with an emergency long snapper in Cole Kmet subbing for Scott Daly. Long snappers, like Daly told me earlier this year, are better off going incognito.

"If people still think that Patrick Scales is still snapping, then that's probably the biggest compliment that I can receive," Daly told me.

Daly, who left the game with a knee injury and was quickly ruled out, put Kmet in the spotlight where botched long snaps can easily equal points for the other team.

Above all this, the Bears not only won but they won convincingly. Momentum is all theirs going into a week off when the secondary can get healthy and prepare for the Washington Commanders and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Remember when Daniels was torching the Bengals a few weeks ago, and everyone asked if the Bears chose the wrong quarterback? I do. That argument seems moot now after Williams' sublime Sunday.

The rook completed 23 of his 29 passes, which is a 79.3 completion percentage, for 226 yards with a career-high four passing touchdowns. That equals out to a 124.4 passer rating.

Williams also became the first player in the Common Draft Era to win four of their first six career starts. He is the first Bears rookie to have a passing touchdown in four-straight games since Kyle Orton did it in 2005, and he became the first Bears rookie since Cade McNown in 1999 to throw at least three touchdown passes in a single game.

The Bears, who could not make Mitchell Trubisky or Justin Fields work long-term, have found the one quarterback the QB Curse cannot hinder. It's leading to actual sustained offensive success, too.

According to Stathead, which powers the website Pro Football Reference, the 2024 Bears have scored five offensive touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time since… 1956. That year, Ed Brown was the Bears' quarterback and Paddy Driscoll was the Bears' head coach.

After all the good Williams did Sunday, the first thing he did was reflect on what could've been. That was his interception on a pass he floated to DJ Moore instead of rifling it in.

"I was a bit pissed off at myself just because that's a pass that I don't miss, that you don't want to miss and do something like that," Williams said. "I was a bit pissed off after that. I think resetting myself was important, but still, having that in the back of my mind, can't have that happen again, and let's go out here and go score."

Williams took care of business after that. He's now tied for second all-time in touchdown passes by a Bears' rookie quarterback with nine. 

Of course, the pressure was on the offense to keep the points flowing because of the defensive players missing. Jaquan Brisker, Tyrique Stevenson and Terrel Smith were out, and Kyler Gordon left the game in the second half with a hamstring injury. 

The depleted secondary just got even more thin. Say all you want about the Jaguars, but an offense that has Trevor Lawrence, Christian Kirk, Trevor Etienne, Brian Thomas Jr. and Evan Engram is a threat with the right playcalling in mind. Elijah Hicks, Josh Blackwell and Jaylon Jones deserve a lot of credit for making plays.

"Jaylon Jones did a nice job. Elijah Hicks did a nice job coming in there, and that's the partnership they have with their coaches," Eberflus said. "The coaches got them ready to go. We are always ready to go in terms of the depth part of it, and that's a good job of coaching those guys as well but really good job of playing."

This was a game that could have gone the other way quickly if the Bears weren't careful. Instead, they took care of business and displayed growth at the same time.

That leaves the Bears in a great position going into the bye week to recover and ready themselves to challenge the NFC North in the second half of the season. There needs to be a casual reminder that the Bears struggled to put teams like the Panthers, Rams and Jaguars away last year. They're doing so this season so far.

After all, it was this Bears administration that said they were planning on taking the North and never giving it back.

This Bears team is in a position to do exactly that. And who knows what happens, after all in Chicago wonders are never starting to cease.

"As long as everything is complementing each other and special teams is playing good, we've got a chance," Bears receiver Keenan Allen said. 

BearsSports Commentary