The Bears opened the game with a march to the Colts’ 38-yard line, but Cairo Santos’ 56-yard field goal attempt failed. The drive was sustained by Williams’ 7-yard passes to Kmet on third-and-6 and 8-yard passes to Moore on fourth-and-1.
It appeared the Bears defense had a possession gain late in the first quarter. Montez Sweat had caught Anthony Richardson when DeMarcus Walker knocked the ball out of his hands. Andrew Billings caught the ball, but the referees ruled Richardson’s advance had stopped.
The defense followed with a possession that counted. On third down and goal from the 4, Richardson’s pass was deflected by John Jackson and intercepted by Tremaine Edmunds in the end zone. The possession came after Richardson completed a 44-yard pass to receiver Alec Pierce at the 4.
Williams threw the pass 47 yards to Odunze along the left sideline to the Colts’ 33-yard line. But three plays later, Williams’ pass, intended for DeAndre Carter on the sideline, was intercepted by cornerback Jaylon Jones.
The Bears defense then allowed two consecutive plays – Anthony Richardson’s 40-yard pass to uncovered tight end Kylen Granson and Jonathan Taylor’s 28-yard touchdown run – to give the Colts a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Williams then connected with Odunze again, this time for 27 yards. But after reaching the Indianapolis 4, the Bears were stopped on four consecutive plays. Herbert gained two yards on the first attempt, one yard on the second attempt and no yards on the third attempt before Swift took a 12-yard loss on an option play after a pitch from Williams.
On the final snap of the first half from the Colts’ 45-yard line, Williams’ Hail Mary pass was deflected into the end zone and caught by Moore at the 1-yard line, but he was tackled just short of the goal line.
On the first play of the second half, Richardson’s over-thrown pass was intercepted by Jaylon Johnson, who returned it two yards to the Bears’ 48-yard line.
The offense managed a first down, setting up Santos’ 53-yard field goal and reducing the deficit to 7-3 with 12:51 minutes left in the third quarter.
The Bears were forced to punt from their own end zone after a sack by Williams on third down, but retained possession when the Colts’ Tyler Goodson was assessed a 15-yard penalty for roughing punter Tory Taylor.
On the next play, Williams’ pass intended for Odunze was intercepted by safety Nick Cross and picked off by Jones at the Bears’ 45-yard line.
The Bears defense then came up with another great play as Walker and Edmunds teamed up to limit Taylor to a 1-yard gain on fourth-and-3 from Chicago’s 38-yard line.
The defense forced a three-and-out on Indianapolis’ next possession, but on fourth-and-2 at the Colts’ 28-yard line, Daniel Hardy jumped offside as Indianapolis attempted to punt, giving the Colts a first down.
Indianapolis took advantage and extended its lead to 14-3 with a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Trey Sermon 21 minutes before the end of the third quarter.
The Bears answered when Williams threw his first NFL touchdown pass, a 1-yard pass to Odunze to cut the deficit to 14-9 with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter. The Bears attempted a two-point conversion, but Williams’ desperation throw to the end zone was incomplete. Williams completed 8 of 9 passes for 64 yards during the drive.
Williams then lost a fumble on a strip sack that the Colts recovered at the Bears’ 16-yard line. Indianapolis converted the loss into Taylor’s 1-yard touchdown run, extending the lead to 21-9 with 5:22 left.
The Bears answered when Williams threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kmet on fourth-and-1 to cut the deficit to 21-16 with 2:01 left. The touchdown capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive. But the Colts ran out of time.
The loss dropped the Bears to 1-2. They return home next Sunday to host the Los Angeles Rams at Soldier Field.
