It has taken three games, but Ben Johnson is finally opening up his playbook as a head coach. Johnson's influence was evident in Week 3, when the Chicago Bears stunned the Dallas Cowboys with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Williams to Luther Burden III.

The play did not go smoothly and appeared to be botched from the jump. D'Andre Swift tossed the ball back to his quarterback nearly 15 high in the air to almost blow the play, but Williams remained in the pocket to find Burden down the left sideline.

The flea flicker was just the third catch of Burden's career, and his first for a touchdown. The Bears invested a second-round pick on him in the 2025 NFL Draft and remain high on his outlook as a potential long-term weapon in Johnson's offense.

The touchdown was Williams' second of the first quarter. He found Rome Odunze in the end zone on the team's second drive to give the Bears a 7-0 lead.

After Chicago punted on the game's opening possession, it was on a tear for the rest of the first half. Led by the flea-flicker touchdown, the Bears racked up 139 total yards in the first quarter to end the opening period with a surprising 14-3 lead.

Williams would go on to throw a third touchdown in the first half, finding Cole Kmet in the back of the end zone just before halftime. The score gave Chicago a 24-14 lead at the break.

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Bears seek first win of Ben Johnson era in Week 3 against Cowboys

Peyton Manning jokes about being the Bears' analytics guy after Ben Johnson’s costly error in the Vikings-Bears game.
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After the Bears got off to a quick 14-3 lead, the Cowboys came roaring back with a vengeance. Despite playing without CeeDee Lamb, who exited the game twice with an ankle injury, Dallas went on consecutive scoring drives in the second quarter to tie the game at 14.

Dak Prescott found George Pickens for Dallas' first touchdown, which it would cap off with a successful two-point conversion. However, the Cowboys' offense would stall out from there, putting them in a 10-point hole at halftime.

The Cowboys and Bears both entered the season with reasonably high expectations under new head coaches. Dallas entered the game with the better record, going 1-1 in its first two games, but Chicago has looked like the better team after 30 minutes.

If the Bears are able to pull off the upset, it would be their first time beating the Cowboys since 2019, according to Football Database.