Bears fall to Colts in Indianapolis

The Bears opened the game by marching to the Colts’ 38. But Cairo Santos‘ 56-yard field goal attempt came up short. The drive was sustained by Williams’ passes of 7 yards to Kmet on third-and-6 and 8 yards to Moore on fourth-and-1.

It appeared the Bears defense had generated a takeaway late in the first quarter. Montez Sweat had Anthony Richardson wrapped up when DeMarcus Walker swatted the ball out of Richardson’s hand. Andrew Billings caught the ball, but officials ruled that Richardson’s forward progress had stopped.

The defense followed with a takeaway that counted. On third-and-goal from the 4, Richardson’s pass was deflected by John Jackson and intercepted by Tremaine Edmunds in the end zone. The pick came after Richardson had completed a 44-yard pass to receiver Alec Pierce to the 4.

Williams rainbowed a 47-yard completion to Odunze down the left sideline to the Colts’ 33. But three plays later, Williams’ pass intended for DeAndre Carter along the sideline was intercepted by cornerback Jaylon Jones.

The Bears defense then gave up back-to-back big plays – Anthony Richardson’s 40-yard pass to uncovered tight end Kylen Granson and Jonathan Taylor’s 28-yard touchdown run – giving the Colts a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Williams then connected again with Odunze, this time for 27 yards. But after reaching the Indianapolis 4, the Bears were stopped on four straight plays. Herbert gained two yards on first down, one yard on second down and no yards on third down before Swift was thrown for a 12-yard loss after taking a pitch from Williams on an option play.

On the final snap of the first half from the Colts’ 45, Williams’ Hail Mary pass into the end zone was deflected and caught by Moore at the 1. But he was tackled immediately short of the goal line.

On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Richardson’s overthrown pass was intercepted by Jaylon Johnson, who returned it two yards to the Bears’ 48.

The offense picked up one first down, setting up Santos’ 53-yard field goal and cutting the deficit to 7-3 with 12:51 left in the third quarter.

The Bears were forced to punt from their own end zone following a third-down sack of Williams, but they retained possession when the Colts’ Tyler Goodson was penalized 15 yards for roughing punter Tory Taylor.

On the next play, Williams’ pass intended for Odunze was broken up by safety Nick Cross and intercepted by Jones at the Bears’ 45.

The Bears defense then produced another huge play, as Walker and Edmunds teamed up to hold Taylor to a 1-yard gain on fourth-and-3 from the Chicago 38.

The defense forced a three-and-out on Indianapolis’ next possession. But on fourth-and-2 from the Colts’ 28, Daniel Hardy jumped offsides as Indianapolis was set to punt, giving the Colts a first down.

Indianapolis took advantage, extending their lead to 14-3 on running back Trey Sermon’s 1-yard touchdown run with :21 left in the third quarter.

The Bears answered as Williams threw his first NFL touchdown pass, a 1-yarder to Odunze, to cut the deficit to 14-9 with 8:21 left in the fourth period. The Bears attempted a two-point conversion but Williams’ desperation heave into the end zone fell incomplete. Williams completed 8 of 9 passes for 64 yards on the drive.

Williams then lost a fumble on a strip-sack that the Colts recovered at the Bears’ 16. Indianapolis converted the turnover into Taylor’s 1-yard touchdown run, widening the margin to 21-9 with 5:22 to play.

The Bears answered as Williams threw a 6-yard TD pass to Kmet on fourth-and-1, closing the gap to 21-16 with 2:01 to play. The TD capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive. But the Colts followed by running out the clock.

With the loss, the Bears fell to 1-2. They’ll return home next Sunday to host the Los Angeles Rams at Soldier Field.