Dallas Cowboys vs Chicago Bears Match Player Stats (Sep 21, 2025)

Chicago Bears 31, Dallas Cowboys 14 | September 21, 2025 | Soldier Field, Chicago

The Dallas Cowboys vs Chicago Bears match player stats from Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season tell a brutal story. Caleb Williams threw for 298 yards and tied his career high with 4 touchdown passes, rookie Luther Burden III caught a 65-yard flea-flicker TD on his way to 101 receiving yards, and the Bears defense picked off Dak Prescott three times to secure a dominant 31-14 win at Soldier Field. Prescott threw for 251 yards and one score before getting benched in the fourth quarter. This one was not close.

Final Score and Quarter-by-Quarter Breakdown

Chicago jumped out to a 14-3 lead before Dallas could settle in. The Cowboys made it interesting in the second quarter, tying it at 14 with a 2-yard Prescott to Pickens TD plus a successful 2-point conversion. Then the Bears took over completely. Chicago scored 17 unanswered points across the final two quarters and allowed zero in the second half.

Caleb Williams Passing Stats (Chicago Bears)

This was Williams at his most efficient. He completed 19-of-28 pass attempts for 298 yards and four passing TDs with zero interceptions, registering a career-high 142.6 passer rating. No sacks. No picks. Just clean, decisive football.

His best game of the first split of the season came against an overmatched Cowboys defense. The analysis from Windy City Gridiron backs that up with a game grade of 3.55, his best mark of the entire opening split of the season.

“I thought [Williams] was really good. And the thing that you don’t see on the stat sheet is he’s getting a lot more comfortable calling those plays in the huddle. We’re able to get out of the huddle a little bit faster and we’re able to get on the line and operate a little bit cleaner as well. I was proud of him for that.” — Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson

Dak Prescott Passing Stats (Dallas Cowboys)

In his third game of the 2025 season, Prescott finished his day completing 31 of 40 passes for 251 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. One of the interceptions came on a pass that tipped off the fingertips of George Pickens, and the other was on a fourth and goal throw with the Cowboys trailing by multiple possessions in the second half. Both interceptions were made by linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

Backup Joe Milton came in late and added 3 of 5 for 41 yards before throwing another interception to close out the afternoon.

Chicago Bears Receiving Stats

Rookie Luther Burden caught his first career touchdown when he hauled in a 65-yarder on a flea-flicker in the first quarter. The second-round pick from Missouri finished with 101 yards on three receptions. Rome Odunze had 62 yards and a touchdown catch, giving him four on the season. Cole Kmet caught a 10-yard touchdown pass near the end of the first half. DJ Moore made it 31-14 with a 4-yard TD reception on a fourth down in the third quarter, capping a 19-play drive that ate up 9:54.

Eight different Bears receivers caught passes in this game.

Dallas Cowboys Receiving Stats

Jake Ferguson was the primary target on the receiving end, totaling a career-high 13 catches, which is the most by a tight end in the NFL this season. He had 82 receiving yards while George Pickens, stepping into the No. 1 wideout role for Lamb, finished with 68 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Ferguson was the one bright spot. But a career-high 13 grabs in a game you lose by 17 says everything about how the rest of the Cowboys offense performed.

Rushing Stats: Both Teams

The Cowboys did see success on the ground as Javonte Williams averaged 7.6 yards per carry on his way to 76 rushing yards overall. Dallas actually outgained Chicago on the ground but could not turn that production into points.

Team Stats Side by Side

Dallas actually had more total yards and more time of possession. They also had more first downs. On paper, the Cowboys should have been in this game. But four turnovers against zero? That is the entire story right there. You do not win football games giving the ball away four times.

Defensive Stats: Chicago Bears

Bears Defense Team Totals:

• Sacks: 2
• Interceptions: 3
• Forced Fumbles: 1
• QB Hits: 7
• Passes Defended: 6
• Total Tackles: 43

Tremaine Edmunds led the defense, intercepting Dak Prescott on back-to-back fourth-quarter possessions deep in Bears territory. The first came when the veteran linebacker dove to catch a pass that had deflected off receiver George Pickens. Edmunds also compiled a team-leading 15 tackles. “He was all over the field,” Johnson said.

The Bears defense held Dallas to zero points in the second half after giving up 14 in the first.

Special Teams and Kicking

Brandon Aubrey made two field goals, including a 53-yarder. He broke Dan Bailey’s franchise record with 28 field goals of at least 50 yards. The record was notable but irrelevant in the context of the final score.

How This Game Actually Unfolded

First Quarter: Bears Take Control Early

Chicago won the turnover battle before the game was even five minutes old. Cowboys running back Javonte Williams took a handoff on Dallas’ opening possession and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson stripped the ball clean. The Bears took over and went 76 yards in five plays, finishing with Williams finding Odunze wide open down the left sideline for a 35-yard TD.

On all of them, Chicago’s receivers were essentially wide open. Williams’ first of the game came when Trevon Diggs slipped after jamming Rome Odunze at the line of scrimmage, leaving him wide open.

Then came the flea-flicker. Ben Johnson called a trick play on second down with Dallas still trying to find its footing. Williams pitched to D’Andre Swift, Swift put on the brakes, pitched back, and Williams launched a 65-yard strike to Burden. Head coach Ben Johnson dialed up a trick play calling a slow-developing flea flicker that worked beautifully as Williams hit rookie Luther Burden III for his first career touchdown from 65 yards out.

After a Brandon Aubrey 53-yard field goal cut it to 14-3, Dallas had some hope. Not for long.

Second Quarter: Cowboys Make it a Game, Briefly

Dallas worked their way back. Prescott engineered a drive capped by a 2-yard TD pass to Pickens, who made a one-handed grab. The 2-point conversion followed and just like that it was 14-14. The crowd at Soldier Field got quiet.

The Cowboys tied the score 14-14 midway through the second quarter on Prescott’s 2-yard TD pass to Pickens coupled with a two-point conversion pass to receiver Jalen Tolbert.

That moment of hope lasted about four minutes. Cairo Santos drilled a 30-yard field goal to put Chicago back up 17-14. Then with 30 seconds left in the half, Williams drove the Bears 75 yards and hit Cole Kmet for a 10-yard TD to make it 24-14 at the break. The halftime numbers were eye-opening. Until that point, no quarterback had over 225 yards and three touchdowns in a single half in 2025. The Bears’ defense also made some good plays, improving massively from their exhibition against the Detroit Lions in Week 2.

Third Quarter: A 19-Play Drive and Ballgame

The Bears had the ball for nearly 10 straight minutes on one possession. Chicago ran 19 plays, converted multiple third and fourth downs, and walked 76 yards down the field before Williams found DJ Moore on 4th down for a 4-yard TD. That made it 31-14 and effectively ended any real chance Dallas had.

“A 19-play drive, that’s going to bring the dog out of everybody, you know what I mean? So for us to be able to put those 19 plays out there and then touch the paint, that tells me we’ve got the right guys in here and we’ve got that dog mentality.” — Rome Odunze

The drive was the statement of the day. Not the flea-flicker. Not Williams’ passer rating. Nine minutes and 54 seconds of the Cowboys watching helplessly as Chicago methodically dismantled them.

Fourth Quarter: Three More Turnovers

The defense closed with an exclamation point, registering interceptions on Dallas’ final three possessions of the game. Edmunds recorded the first two against Prescott and safety Kevin Byard III picked off backup quarterback Joe Milton with :52 to play.

At that point the Cowboys benched Prescott entirely, sending a clear signal that this one was over.

The CeeDee Lamb Injury and What It Changed

One storyline that cannot be overlooked in any analysis of these Dallas Cowboys vs Chicago Bears player stats is CeeDee Lamb’s exit. Star receiver CeeDee Lamb left with a sprained ankle. The four-time Pro Bowler headed to the sideline early in the first quarter after he was hurt on a run when he took a handoff and twisted his ankle as he was tackled by Noah Sewell. He returned on the first play of the second quarter before being ruled out to start the second half.

Without their best receiver for two full quarters, Dallas leaned on Pickens as the WR1. He managed five catches and 68 yards with a touchdown, but a crucial drop that became an interception in the fourth quarter summed up his afternoon.

What the Numbers Actually Tell You

The turnover margin was everything. Chicago had zero. Dallas had four. When you account for the fact that three of those turnovers came in Dallas territory or with the game still winnable, it becomes even more costly. The Bears outscored the Cowboys 24-0 off turnover opportunities.

Williams was dominant, but the Cowboys defense made it easy. The Cowboys defense failed to sack quarterback Caleb Williams and generated just seven total pressures on the second-year signal caller for Chicago. Through three games, the Dallas defense has only three sacks.

Jerry Jones addressed the pass rush problem directly after the game:

“It compromised us with our four man front up there today. We want to try and get there in this defense with that four man rush. We weren’t getting there, plus we weren’t covering. And that’s a bad combination. That’s what happened to us out there today.” — Jerry Jones

Prescott’s numbers look better than the performance actually was. A 77.5% completion rate sounds good. But with a passer rating of 80.3, two picks, and a benching in the fourth quarter, the box score is misleading. A common trend in 2025 was that opposing quarterbacks often had some of their best performances against the Dallas Cowboys defense.

The Bears’ offensive line was excellent. Zero sacks allowed in a game where Chicago threw 28 times. Williams had clean pockets to work from all afternoon, and you could see the difference it made compared to his 2024 struggles behind a different line.

Key Performers: Grades at a Glance

Context: What This Loss Meant for Dallas

After starting 1-1 following a week 2 blowout loss to the Lions, this was Chicago’s statement game. For Dallas, the Week 3 result dropped them to 1-2 and exposed real structural issues on defense.

After giving up over 500 yards of offense last week to the New York Giants, the Cowboys surrendered 385 total yards of offense to the Chicago Bears in Matt Eberflus’ return to Chicago.

The Cowboys offense was not as bad as the scoreline suggests. 396 total yards and 23 first downs is not a terrible offensive day. The problem was that the defense could not get off the field and the turnovers kept handing Chicago short fields and momentum.

For fans looking to dig deeper into NFL game analysis and player performance breakdowns across the league, TopHill Sports covers matchups with this level of statistical depth throughout the season.

Bears Coach Ben Johnson on the Preparation

“The first two weeks have not gone the way we wanted to. It’s early, but we’ve got to get the issues fixed. I thought those guys were committed to that here this week. We had a good week of preparation, and they came out and played inspired football today. Good things happen when you’re playing hard, you’re playing physical and you’re playing for the guy next to you, and I thought that’s what happened here today.” — Ben Johnson

“It starts in practice and how consistent we were in practice. The preparation, when we’re actually between the white lines, and going there and competing versus each other and having these tough practices.” — Caleb Williams

Full Scoring Summary

Injury Report From This Game

• CeeDee Lamb (DAL): Sprained ankle in Q1, ruled out at halftime
• Trevon Diggs (DAL): Shoulder, left game in second half, questionable status post game
• Kenny Clark (DAL): Ankle, left game in second half
• Colston Loveland (CHI): Hip, hurt in first half but continued playing

The Lamb injury was the most significant. His absence for the second half gave Chicago a major structural advantage on defense for the most important stretch of the game.

Where Both Teams Went From Here

The Bears went on to finish the 2025 regular season at 11-6 and advanced to the NFC playoffs, where they beat Green Bay in the wild-card round. This Week 3 performance against Dallas was widely considered the turning point that established Chicago as a legitimate contender.

The Cowboys finished 7-9-1, missing the playoffs entirely.

Bottom Line

The Dallas Cowboys vs Chicago Bears match player stats from September 21, 2025 paint a clear picture of two franchises heading in opposite directions. Caleb Williams was spectacular. The Cowboys defense was a sieve. Dak Prescott gave Chicago three gifts with interceptions at the worst possible moments. And a 19-play, 9:54 scoring drive in the third quarter sealed the deal.

Final score: Chicago Bears 31, Dallas Cowboys 14.