The Chicago Bears got back in the win column with a Week 6 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, and the biggest storyline was the return of two players the team badly needed back in action. Quarterback Caleb Williams was back after a three-game absence, and cornerback Kyler Gordon made his first appearance after a frustrating injury situation that cost him so much time the last two seasons.

The game turned out to be much closer than it should have been. Chicago led 31-7 with 12 minutes to go in the fourth quarter before Atlanta clawed back to make it a one-possession game. Fortunately, the Bears managed to tighten things up late to close it out.

Here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 6.

Winner: Welcome back Kyler Gordon

What a return it was for Kyler Gordon. At one point, it seemed like he might never play for the Bears again. Instead, he turned in the best pass-rushing performance any Chicago player has had all season, and he did it as a defensive back.

Gordon finished with three sacks, multiple tackles for a loss, and four tackles overall. The plan for him seemed simple: see ball, get ball. He was a menace all day long, and he came up big again on the final drive when the defense needed one more stop with the game on the line.

We knew Gordon was one of the best slot corners in football when healthy. Now he’s healthy again and proving it on the field, and that changes the trajectory of this defense.

Winner: Man, this offense really missed Caleb Williams

Caleb Williams didn’t look like a player coming off a hamstring tear. He completed 30-of-36 passes for over 300 yards and a touchdown, and he was running around, breaking tackles, and extending plays with his legs. He took a couple of sacks, but there were no visible limitations.

The offense looked like itself again with Williams under center. He spread the ball around to eight different pass catchers, and four players went over 30 receiving yards. That’s what Ben Johnson’s offense is supposed to look like, and it speaks volumes about how much of a difference-maker Williams is when he’s on the field. It was great to have him back out there again making plays.

Mixed Bag: Dennis Allen called a great game, but celebrated a little too early

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen called a great game, and it deserves even more credit considering who wasn’t available. Chicago was without four defensive starters in Tyrique Stevenson, T.J. Edwards, Montez Sweat, and Dayo Odeyingbo.

Despite all of the absences, the Bears held Bijan Robinson to 61 yards on nine carries. That’s still efficient running, but it’s exactly where Chicago needed to be. The defense gave up some big plays through the air, but it tightened up on the majority of drives. Allen was in his bag all day, putting seven players on the line of scrimmage and leaving Atlanta guessing about who was blitzing and who was dropping into coverage.

Beyond Gordon, safety Dillon Thieneman got home on a blitz, and defensive end Daniel Hardy chipped in a sack as well off the edge, a player that had to step up for the defense this week.

My only issue was Allen sending out the C-team too early, even if the game seemed out of reach. With over 10 minutes left up 31-7, the Bears had players such as Josh Blackwell, Skyler Thomas, Jack Sanborn, and Nick McCloud out there. They quickly gave up eight points and gave the Falcons some late momentum to attempt a late push. You can’t take the foot off the gas in this league.

Winner: Special teams stepped up in this one

The Bears needed special teams to make plays in this game, and that unit delivered, outside of another long miss by kicker Cairo Santos.

Josh Blackwell recovered a huge muffed punt early that set up a touchdown. Punter Tory Taylor played a big role in that play as well, and it’s now the second time this season his punts have led to a turnover. Call-ups Zavier Scott and Nick McCloud also combined to force and recover a fumble on a kickoff. Overall, a solid job by Richard Hightower’s unit.

Winner: Colston Loveland is back

This was the bounce-back game tight end Colston Loveland needed. He caught six passes for 65 yards and a touchdown and finished second on the team with seven targets behind Luther Burden III.

Through the first five games, Loveland had just 13 receptions for 110 yards, so it was great to see him rolling again with Williams back at quarterback. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come for him.

Winner: Red zone offense improved with Caleb Williams

I figured this was going to happen with Caleb Williams back in the lineup, but the Bears were much improved this week in the redzone. Coming into this game, the Bears scored a touchdown on 9 of 21 red zone drives. Today, the Bears scored four touchdowns in the redzone.

Williams’ mobility was a big factor getting him out on the move, as he did on the opening drive touchdown to Loveland. But, it was also improved blocking up front that paved the way for three rushing touchdowns.

Loser: Way too many penalties

This was one of the worst penalty games I’ve seen from the Bears during my time covering the team. Chicago was flagged 12 times for 133 yards, and the mistakes showed up in all three phases. Holding calls and false starts wiped out big plays on offense, and the defense handed over key conversions.

On special teams, wide receiver Jahdae Walker was ejected for a headbutt with his helmet. That’s not up to the standard the Bears want, and those needs to be cleaned up quickly.

Loser: Jonah Jackson’s injury is one to watch

Right guard Jonah Jackson left the game with a hip injury and that’s the only injury to note from the game on the Bears’ side. Luke Newman did a decent job filling in at right guard, but we know how powerful the right side of this offensive line can be with Jackson in the lineup.

If he’s forced to miss time, it could be a big blow to a run game that only managed 98 rushing yards in this one, which was below what this team is capable of. That was efficient enough to get the job done against Atlanta. Still, the Bears can’t afford a drop-off up front, and Jackson’s status will be worth watching going into Week 7.