The Chicago Bears face a potential fork in the road moment Sunday afternoon when they host the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field.

A win against Dallas could set the Bears back on the right track after starting the season with two disappointing losses in the NFC North. A loss would only make matters worse for Bears head coach Ben Johnson in his first season. To make things more interesting, former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus will be back in town as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator.

Sunday’s game kicks off at 3:25 p.m. and will be broadcast on FOX. Here are the top five storylines to watch.

Can Caleb Williams’ progress lead to more points?

Bears coaches felt like quarterback Caleb Williams made significant progress from the team’s season-opener against the Minnesota Vikings to its Week 2 matchup against the Detroit Lions. Williams ran the offense more effectively, according to coaches, and progressed through his reads better.

“I think Caleb played better in this game,” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said this week. “I think you saw a guy who has improved. Since we got here, he’s improved a little bit at a time. This is a process, but obviously (he) played better than that first after watching the tape, and we expect him to continue to progress.”

While Bears fans have to be encouraged to hear that, they’ll likely be more excited to see that progress lead to more points. Williams ranked 22nd in the NFL with 417 passing yards and 24th with a 61.5% completion rate to go along with his three touchdowns through two weeks. The offense has scored 45 points this season, ranked 15th.

Williams has a chance to have a breakout game Sunday with the Cowboys defense coming into town. New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson looked like his vintage self going against Dallas in Week 2. He threw for 450 yards, three touchdowns and completed 73% of his passes.

It might not look exactly like that Sunday for Williams. But if he nears his career-high 363 passing yards in a game and leads successful scoring drives, fans will also start to see that progress.

Stopping the Cowboys’ talented wide receivers

The depth of the Bears’ secondary has been tested early this season. It’ll be tested once again Sunday.

The Cowboys have built a talented receiving corps around quarterback Dak Prescott. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is third in the NFL with 222 receiving yards through two games, and George Pickens has played well since the Cowboys acquired him from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tight end Jake Ferguson has also emerged as a tough pass-catching target to stop.

The Bears will be without a few starters once again Sunday. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson suffered a serious groin injury against the Detroit Lions that will force him to miss an indefinite amount of time. Cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Jones and linebacker T.J. Edwards also won’t play against the Cowboys.

Chicago’s secondary has had mixed results without some of its starters. The unit handled the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson fairly well, but that came with Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy making his first career start and Jefferson recovering from injury. Week 2 against the Lions didn’t go well at all.

The Bears will need their secondary to pick up some stops Sunday. If it doesn’t, things could get away from Chicago quickly once again.

Creating pressure on Dak Prescott

A good way to stop those wide receivers will be to create any sort of pressure on Prescott, something the Bears have struggled with early in the year.

Prescott has shown why he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league. The 10-year veteran has thrown for 549 yards, which ranks fifth in the NFL, and completed 68.6% of his passes, which is the 11th-best. Prescott made plays to help the Cowboys beat the New York Giants in overtime in Week 2 and knows how to dissect an offense.

“Man, when I see a quarterback utilize cadence the way that he does, and I know that’s a little thing, but it’s just reflective of, he’s got total control of the field,” Ben Johnson said. “He’s looking to manipulate the defense; he’s looking to control them. Hopefully, we’ll have a loud crowd here on Sunday that combats his ability to use that cadence to our disadvantage. When I see that on tape, this is a guy that’s seeing the field really well right now, and he’s trying to move defenders around. When you have an experienced player like that, it’s a dangerous thing.”

Chicago will need to disrupt Prescott’s rhythm by creating pressure in order to stop him from dissecting the Bears’ secondary like Lions quarterback Jared Goff did in Week 2. The Bears’ defense failed to record a sack against the Lions for the first time since 2023. Their three sacks this year rank tied for 25th in the NFL, while their nine quarterback hits are tied for 23rd.

A big help will be getting more from their top edge rushers. Montez Sweat hasn’t recorded a sack yet and has one quarterback hit, while Dayo Odeyingbo, whom the Bears signed this offseason, has one sack and two quarterback hits.

Getting the rookies going

Johnson hasn’t given his rookies a chance to make much of an impact during the first two games of the season. That could change Sunday.

First-round tight end Colston Loveland has 12 receiving yards on two receptions off three targets while second-round wide receiver Luther Burden III has 2 receiving yards off two catches and three targets. Offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo and defensive tackle Shemar Turner were healthy inactives Sunday. Trapilo has played five special teams snaps while Turner hasn’t seen any game action.

Johnson has mentioned the importance of the rookies earning his trust by competing at practice. But he also admitted he needs to do a better job of getting his tight ends involved in the offense.

Loveland will have a chance to have a breakthrough game Sunday. Versatile tight ends have succeeded against Eberflus’ defense in the past, and there’s a good chance he and tight end Cole Kmet could be on the field at the same time as pass threats. Burden could also earn more looks as he finds his role in Johnson’s offense.

“Whatever it is, we’ve gotta go out there and execute and at the end of the day, get a win,” Loveland said. “Whatever we’ve gotta do to get a win, giving us less, giving us more, we’re going to make sure that happens.”

Familiar foe

Eberflus will make his first return to Soldier Field on Sunday after the team fired him midseason last year, coincidentally after playing Johnson and the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving. He led the Bears to a 14-32 record over his three seasons in charge and became the first head coach to be fired during a season in franchise history.

Johnson was complimentary of Eberflus, telling reporters that he respected Eberflus’ defense since his time with the Indianapolis Colts. Eberflus went 1-5 against the Lions when Johnson was their offensive coordinator. But Eberflus’ defense did limit Detroit to its lowest and fourth-lowest yardage totals in a game in 2023.

“I think Caleb played better in this game. I think you saw a guy who has improved. Since we got here, he’s improved a little bit at a time. This is a process, but obviously (he) played better than that first after watching the tape and we expect him to continue to progress.”

—  Declan Doyle, Bears offensive coordinator

There will be some mind games Sunday between the two sidelines. Eberflus is very familiar with Williams after he was involved in the process to draft him and his rookie season. Plus, a majority of the Bears players know Eberflus’ system and how to potentially exploit it.

But Johnson and the players weren’t too worried about any potential advantages because of familiarity.

“We’ve got guys in the building that know how his mind works, and so we had some information on just schematically how he liked to approach my offense in general and his feelings on [Williams],” Johnson said. “I feel like we know what he knows, and we’ll be just fine there.”