Caleb Williams throws for 2 TDs, Bears pound Browns even as Myles Garrett closes in on sacks record

CHICAGO (AP) — Caleb Williams rolled toward the right sideline and unleashed a pass he probably had no business attempting. DJ Moore went up in a crowd in the back of the end zone and came down with a touchdown.

That's the type of day it was for the Bears.

Williams threw two touchdown passes and Chicago beat Cleveland 31-3 on Sunday in one of the coldest games ever at Soldier Field even though the Browns’ Myles Garrett moved within a sack of the NFL’s single-season record.

The Bears (10-4) heated up early on a day when the temperature at kickoff was 8 degrees and they hit double digits in wins for the first time since the 2018 NFC North championship team went 12-4. They scored two first-quarter touchdowns and broke the game open with two more in the third.

It was just the sort of performance they needed coming off a loss at Green Bay that knocked them from first to seventh in the NFC, with a rematch against their rivals at home next week looming.

“You want to start the game off every week like that," Williams said. "But definitely this week not allowing them to get going, not allowing them to feel some energy or feel they can beat us — that was our mindset going into this game.”

Garrett had 1 1/2 sacks, giving him 21 1/2 on the season and leaving him one shy of the record shared by New York Giants Hall of Famer Michael Strahan (2001) and Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt (2021). He got to Williams in the second quarter on a third down at the Cleveland 8, and he and Shelby Harris took down the quarterback early in the fourth. A four-time All-Pro, Garrett has at least one sack in eight straight games and has 17 1/2 in that span.

Williams shook off a string of shaky outings, finishing 17 of 28 for 242 yards. He completed fewer than 60% of his passes in each of the previous six games.

D’Andre Swift ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Moore added 69 yards receiving and two scoring catches with Rome Odunze missing his second straight game because of a foot injury. His second TD — a 22-yarder in the third — was one for the highlight reel.

“I'd say 99% of the quarterbacks, you tell them, ‘Don’t even waste your time looking back there and trying to make that throw,'” coach Ben Johnson said. “There's usually bad things that happen. And yet, he's got the ability to make that throw. DJ made a heck of a play there right on the back line, as well.”

Rookie Luther Burden caught six passes for 84 yards, including a 40-yarder.

The Bears held Cleveland to 192 yards and turned three interceptions against Shedeur Sanders into 17 points. With three takeaways, they extended their league lead to 30.

D’Marco Jackson had an interception deep in Cleveland territory in the third. Jaylon Johnson picked off a pass at the goal line with his back to the quarterback later in the quarter, and both plays led to touchdowns. Another one by C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the fourth set up a field goal, helping the Bears bounce back after having a five-game win streak snapped last week. They also won their fifth straight home game since a season-opening loss to Minnesota.

“They had a great defensive scheme,” Sanders said. “I enjoyed playing against them. I enjoyed playing in that. It was definitely a little challenge, so I look forward to learning from that.”

'The Browns (3-11) have dropped three straight and six of seven.

Sanders was 18 of 35 for 177 yards and three interceptions. He was sacked five times in his fourth start. The Browns announced the highly publicized fifth-round pick and son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders will be their starter for the rest of the season after passing for 364 yards and three touchdowns while also having a rushing score against Tennessee last week.

“He’s a young player that is making progress, like we’ve talked about all week,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. "I see it in games. I get to see it in practice. There’s going to be ups and downs to young players, particularly the quarterback position. So we’ll learn from it, and we’ll be better next week.”

Browns: Garrett tweaked his hip during the game. ... G Teven Jenkins exited with a shoulder injury.

Bears: Odunze aggravated his foot injury in warmups. Johnson had no details on exactly how it happened and whether he'll play again this season. “I really don't know ... the extent of it,” he said. “When something like that happens right before a game and you're solely focused on getting the next guy ready to perform at a high level.” ... Williams limped toward the locker room after he was hit in the shin on a pass on the final play of the first half.

Browns: Host Buffalo next Sunday.

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Chicago Bears defensive end Austin Booker (94) sacks Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) in the first half of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Bears running back D'Andre Swift (4) carries for a touchdown in the first half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Bears place kicker Cairo Santos (8) kicks his field goal attempt past Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, but misses the field goal in the first half of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams walks off the field at halftime of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Iran launched more missiles at Israel and U.S. bases as war in the Middle East enters a sixth day. Israel announced multiple incoming attacks early Thursday and said it was intercepting the missiles.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it began new strikes against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. At least eight people were killed there late Wednesday into Thursday according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry and the state news agency.

Tehran has warned of the destruction of the Middle East’s military and economic infrastructure, and the war has rattled financial markets, with most taking their cues from what the price of oil is doing. Early Thursday, oil prices resumed their ascent.

Here is the latest:

Israel’s military said Thursday morning it had begun a “large-scale wave of strikes against infrastructure” in Iran’s capital, Tehran.

Oman’s top diplomat said Thursday that the sultanate was working with countries around the world to organize flights home for stranded foreigners.

Badr al-Busaidi wrote the message on X, just after Qatar Airways said it would start flights from Oman’s capital, Muscat.

“For everyone hoping to fly home from the Gulf, the Omani government is working with your governments and international airlines to organize flights to get you home,” he wrote. “We mean everyone, whatever passport you hold. The citizens of all countries have the human right to safety and security. People matter. Let’s stop the war now.”

Oman, on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has come under attack off its coast and at its seaports, but has not seen a strike on Muscat International Airport in the war.

Qatar Airways said Thursday it will start operating a limited number of “relief flights” as the war in the Middle East goes on.

The airline said on X that the flights will include departures from Muscat, the Omani capital, to Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Madrid and Rome. Another route will be from Riyadh to Frankfurt, Germany.

The flights will “support passengers who are stranded due to the current situation across the region.”

Airspace in Qatar remains closed over Iranian fire into the region.

Qatar Airways is a key East-West carrier.

Indonesian immigration authorities in Bali have granted emergency stay permits and waived overstay fines for foreign nationals stranded after air route closures in parts of the Middle East disrupted international flights from the resort island.

Nearly 6,000 of passengers traveling from Bali to Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi had their flights canceled over four days at Ngurah Rai International Airport, immigration officials said.

Ambassadors of Iran and Israel held separate news conferences Thursday in South Korea’s capital, trading sharp accusations as their countries continued an escalating war in the Middle East.

Speaking through an interpreter, Iran’s Ambassador to South Korea Saeed Koozechi demanded Seoul — a key U.S. ally — to be more vocal in demanding a halt to what he called an illegal aggression by U.S. and Israeli forces, which launched attacks despite active negotiations.

He said “many coffins would return to the United States” if it decides to deploy ground forces, and defended Iranian strikes on Gulf states hosting U.S. military bases as unavoidable.

The Israel ambassador in Seoul, Raphael Harpaz, said the joint U.S.-Israeli military operations aim both to destroy Iran’s nuclear development facilities and ballistic missile sites, and to help free Iranian people from oppression.

South Korea has supported U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions but has not explicitly endorsed the U.S.-Israeli attacks, instead calling for a swift restoration of dialogue.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said it destroyed a drone in the kingdom’s al-Jawf province, which borders Jordan.

The Israeli military struck a building in the Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp in the coastal city of Tripoli, killing two people, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

The strike, which hit the area without prior warning and marked the northernmost strike so far, wounded another individual, the Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military did not immediately say who it targeted in the strike.

Located about 85 kilometers (53 miles) north of Beirut and more than 180 kilometers (112 miles) from the Lebanese-Israeli border, Beddawi was targeted during the 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Despite a ceasefire reached in November 2024, the Israeli military said in July it struck a Hamas figure in the camp.

An overnight Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle on a coastal highway in southern Lebanon, killing three people, Lebanon’s state news agency said.

The highway connects the city of Tyre to Naqoura, a border town near Israel.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military warned residents to move north of the Litani River, which serves as a key buffer line with villages south of it lying closest to the Israeli border.

The number of people killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon in the four days since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah reignited has risen to more than 70, with over 430 people wounded, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Wednesday.

It is not clear how many of those killed in Lebanon were civilians, but the Health Ministry said Tuesday that they included seven children.

Officials with Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group were also killed.

Healthcare workers unload from a vehicle the bodies of Iranian sailors who died when their IRIS Dena warship sank outside Sri Lanka's territorial waters, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Israeli tanks maneuver near the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Tracer rounds light the sky as people fire live rounds into the air during a televised speech by Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)