The Chicago Bears didn't need Caleb Williams to dismantle the New York Jets on Sunday.
That may have been the most important development of their 23-12 win.
Chicago improved to 3-1 despite Williams remaining sidelined, and this wasn't some ugly victory the Bears stole while waiting for their starting quarterback to return. They controlled the game almost from beginning to end.
The Bears finished with 492 yards of offense compared to just 157 for the Jets. They held the ball for 42:45, ran 89 offensive plays and somehow went an entire NFL game without punting.
And they did it with Tyson Bagent at quarterback.
The Bears aren't just surviving without Caleb Williams
There's a pretty significant difference between finding a way to scrape together wins without your franchise quarterback and doing what Chicago just did to New York.
Bagent completed 25 of 34 passes for 268 yards. He wasn't asked to play superhero. He didn't have to.
That's exactly the point.
The Bears have now won games started by three different quarterbacks this season. Williams, Case Keenum and Bagent have each been behind center for a Chicago victory.
For a franchise that has spent what feels like several lifetimes trying to figure out the quarterback position, that's a bizarre sentence to write.
Ben Johnson has built an offense that can still function when Plan A isn't available.
Chicago's running game made life miserable for the Jets
Kyle Monangai was the biggest reason Bagent didn't need to carry the offense.
Monangai ran 30 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns, including Chicago's first touchdown of the afternoon. D'Andre Swift added another 58 yards as the Bears finished with 232 yards on the ground.
The Bears ran the ball 54 times.
That isn't trying to hide your backup quarterback. That's finding something the opponent can't stop and beating them over the head with it until the clock hits zero.
Chicago controlled possession for more than 42 minutes. New York had the football for just 17:15.
The Jets barely had enough time to get comfortable on the sideline before Chicago's offense was back on the field.
The scary part comes when Williams returns
This is where Sunday's win becomes much more interesting than simply moving Chicago to 3-1.
The Bears aren't supposed to look this comfortable without Williams.
Instead, they've shown they can run the football, control possession and move the chains with a backup quarterback. Chicago had 34 first downs against New York. The Jets had seven.
Seven.
There are still problems to clean up. The Bears turned the ball over twice, including an interception from Bagent. Against a better opponent, those mistakes won't always disappear beneath nearly 500 yards of offense.
But that's also what should get the attention of Green Bay, Detroit and Minnesota.
Chicago hasn't needed everything to go right.
The Bears are 3-1 despite already having to navigate quarterback injuries, and Sunday's win showed they don't have to ask one player to rescue them every week.
Eventually, Williams is coming back.
If he returns to an offense capable of running for more than 200 yards, dominating possession and moving the football like this without him, the NFC North could have a much bigger Bears problem than anyone expected.
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