ATLANTA (Interstat) — Caleb Williams threw for 305 yards and a touchdown, and Chicago’s defense protected a late lead as the Bears beat the Atlanta Falcons 31-23 on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. Chicago improved to 4-2 and won its fourth game in six tries this season. Atlanta fell to 2-4 and dropped its fourth game in six tries. A crowd of 72,301 attended the National Football League game. The Bears won despite being outscored 16-3 in the fourth quarter.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Williams, from Washington, D.C., completed 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown and ran four times for minus-3 yards. Luther Burden III caught eight passes for 95 yards. Colston Loveland had six catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. Rome Odunze added three catches for 39 yards. Zavion Thomas had three catches for 25 yards. Kalif Raymond caught two passes for 18 yards. Cole Kmet had two catches for 3 yards. Williams completed passes to eight different receivers. Burden led Chicago in receiving yards, and Loveland was second. D’Andre Swift ran 16 times for 44 yards and caught four passes for 26 yards while scoring twice. Roschon Johnson added 13 carries for 51 yards and two catches for 34 yards and a touchdown.

Chicago never trailed and opened the scoring when Williams found Loveland for a 14-yard touchdown with 8:15 left in the first quarter. Cairo Santos made the extra point. The Bears moved ahead 14-0 on Swift’s 4-yard run with 1:07 remaining in the quarter, and Santos again converted. Chicago had scored on each of its first two possessions. The early touchdowns gave Chicago control.

Santos missed a 56-yard field goal wide left with 7:23 left in the second quarter. Atlanta then got on the board when Michael Penix Jr. hit Jahan Dotson for a 13-yard touchdown with 5:45 remaining. Nick Folk made the extra point. Atlanta’s first score came after Santos’s miss. Chicago answered with Swift’s 2-yard touchdown run with 1:26 left before halftime, and Santos made the kick. The Bears took a 21-7 lead into the locker room.

Roschon Johnson scored on a 4-yard run with 1:48 remaining in the third quarter, and Santos converted. Santos made a 50-yard field goal with 14:56 left in the fourth quarter to give Chicago a 31-7 lead. The Bears had a 24-point cushion.

Atlanta rallied with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, each followed by a successful two-point conversion. Penix found Kyle Pitts Sr. for a 10-yard score with 9:34 remaining and connected with Zachariah Branch for the two-point conversion. Penix then hit Pitts for a 5-yard touchdown with 5:41 left and found Drake London for the two-point conversion. The Falcons got within 31-23 but did not score again. Chicago’s defense kept Atlanta off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Penix’s touchdown passes covered 13, 10 and 5 yards. The Falcons converted both two-point attempts in the fourth quarter.

Penix, a 6-foot-2, 216-pound quarterback, completed 19 of 33 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns and ran once for 1 yard. Pitts caught five passes for 60 yards and two touchdowns. Dotson had three catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. London caught four passes for 62 yards. Austin Hooper had one catch for 6 yards. Branch caught two passes for 9 yards and returned four kickoffs for 86 yards. Olamide Zaccheaus returned one kickoff for 22 yards and one punt for minus-1 yard. Penix completed passes to five receivers. Dotson’s 87 receiving yards led Atlanta.

Chicago’s Kyler Gordon, a 6-foot, 200-pound cornerback, had four tackles and three sacks. Devin Bush made seven tackles. Noah Sewell had six tackles. Elijah Hicks and Josh Blackwell each had four tackles. Daniel Hardy had three tackles and a sack. Dillon Thieneman had two tackles and a sack. Austin Booker and Cam Lewis each had three tackles. Buddy Johnson and Jack Sanborn each had two tackles. Zavier Scott had three tackles. Kentavius Street, Malik Muhammad II, Shemar Turner, Clark Phillips III, Jaylon Johnson and D’Marco Jackson each had one tackle. The Bears sacked Penix five times. Gordon’s three sacks led Chicago, and Bush’s seven tackles were a team high. The Bears’ defense allowed 225 passing yards and recorded five sacks.

Atlanta’s Jessie Bates III, Mike Hughes, Sydney Brown and Kendal Daniels each made seven tackles. LaCale London had five tackles and a sack. Avieon Terrell had five tackles. Harold Perkins Jr. and Josh Woods each had four tackles. Cameron Thomas had one tackle.

Chicago’s Cairo Santos made all four extra points and one of two field goals, connecting from 50 yards and missing from 56. Tory Taylor punted five times for 224 yards, an average of 44.8 yards. Atlanta’s Jake Bailey punted four times for 220 yards, an average of 55 yards. Kalif Raymond returned three punts for 54 yards. Zavion Thomas returned four kickoffs for 85 yards. Branch returned one punt for no yards. Nick Folk made his only extra-point attempt for Atlanta.

Chicago had lost its previous game at Green Bay, while Atlanta had dropped an overtime decision to Baltimore. Chicago had won three of its first five games before the loss at Green Bay. Atlanta had won two of its first five games before losing to Baltimore. The Falcons had also beaten Green Bay earlier this season. The Bears next host New England. The Falcons next host San Francisco.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Atlanta 33, Chicago 31. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Atlanta with a 51.3 percent probability to win. Chicago had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5, and the combined total of 54 went under the over/under line of 52.5.