The Chicago Bears found a way to win Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field despite the odds.

Chicago played Sunday’s game without six defensive starters in its secondary and linebacking corps.

Meanwhile, quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense seemed to put themselves in a hole early in the second quarter when they turned the ball over twice against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But at the end, the Bears pulled out another thrilling win, this one 31-28.

Different players stepped up in critical moments Sunday. The defense created two turnovers and linebackers D’Marco Jackson and Amen Ogbongbemiga stepped in when their team needed them to. Williams settled down in the second half and led his offense to 31 points.

The Bears have won eight of their last nine games and are alone at the top of the NFC North with an 8-3 record. Here are the five big takeaways from another thrilling win.

Caleb Williams’ up-and-down day

Sunday’s win was a good example of the good and bad that Williams still shows in games.

Williams had a good day throwing the ball for the most part. He threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns, completing two to wide receiver DJ Moore and one to rookie tight end Colston Loveland. Sunday was the most yards and touchdowns he’s thrown in a game in a couple of weeks.

But there were still some plays that Williams wanted back. He made a critical mistake near the start of the second quarter when he didn’t throw the ball away when he was in the end zone. Steelers linebacker TJ Watt forced a strip sack and Pittsburgh recovered to score a touchdown. There were also some throws where Williams was off, which led to a 54.3% completion rate, the second worst of his season.

Williams seemed frustrated with the up-and-down showing. He was proud that his team found another way to win. But he also knew he can play at a higher level.

“You don’t apologize but you do understand where you can be as a team, what we could’ve done out there, and that’s the frustrating part,” Williams said at Soldier Field. “It starts with me and funnels down to everybody else. Missing a few passes, a couple passes recently that I’ve been kind of just surgical with. I missed those passes today and it was frustrating.”

Nahshon Wright, Montez Sweat make an impact

Despite missing so many starters on defense, that didn’t stop the unit from continuing its trend of creating turnovers.

Cornerback Nahshon Wright started in the first quarter when he made an impressive backwards diving interception down the sideline on a pass from Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph intended for wide receiver DK Metcalf. The pick was Wright’s fifth of the season and he’s now tied with Bears safety Kevin Byard for the league lead.

“He’s phenomenal,” Byard said. “He’s a special player and super happy that he’s on our team making those plays.”

Bears defensive end Montez Sweat also continued to make an impact since the team’s Week 5 bye. Sweat forced a strip sack of Rudolph in the fourth quarter that helped Chicago take a 10-point lead on its ensuing drive. He finished the day with two sacks, two quarterback hits and three tackles for loss.

Sweat has been on a tear since that bye week. He’s forced three fumbles during that span and has 6.5 sacks. It’s been a big jolt for a pass rush that hasn’t gotten much going this season.

DJ Moore’s historic day

Injuries had kept Moore from making a major impact in games this season. That changed Sunday.

Moore had his best game of the season and made the most opportunities he had. He led the team with 64 receiving yards on five receptions off seven targets. Moore scored the game’s first touchdown in the first quarter when he made a diving catch on 5-yard pass from Williams up the middle. He added another one, this one for wide open for 25 yards in the third quarter.

Sunday was the first time Moore caught multiple touchdowns in a game since Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers last season. Moore also eclipsed 8,000 career receiving yards during the win.

Moore’s second touchdown impressed Bears head coach Ben Johnson. The Bears caught the Steelers lined up offsides and took advantage of the free play when Moore ran wide open to the end zone. It has been a play the group had worked on for a while and executed to perfection.

“I thought the execution of it was really well-done,” Johnson said. “It’s something we’ve been working on since the springtime through training camp. Everyone on offense has slowly but surely gotten better on that.”

Improving in critical situations

Chicago won Sunday’s game by taking major steps in critical categories. None was bigger than taking advantage of their turnovers.

The Bears scored touchdowns on both of their possessions that they gained after takeaways from the defense. Williams threw a touchdown pass to Moore after Wright’s interception in the first quarter. Then the Bears offense put the game away when rookie running back Kyle Monangai rushed in for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter after Sweat’s strip sack.

Those touchdowns came as the Bears improved in other key areas as well. Chicago scored a touchdown on all three of its trips to the red zone and converted on its lone fourth-down attempt. The Bears also went 7-of-13 on third down, good for 54% success rate.

Johnson had looked for his team to take advantage of turnovers and not settle for field goals. Sunday was a step in the right direction.

“We want to go down and score, whether it’s turnover on downs, a big fourth-down stop or things like that, it’s the turnovers that they get for us,” Williams said. “We’ll keep doing a better job of hitting on those moments. It is a momentum shifter.”

Injury big bites hard again

Chicago already entered Sunday’s game with some major injuries to its defense. They left even more depleted on both sides of the ball.

The Bears’ defense started Sunday’s without all three starting linebackers, Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and Noah Sewell, as well as starting cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. Chicago’s bad injury luck continued in the first half when both rookie linebacker Ruben Hyppolite (shoulder) and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (hip) left and never came back with their respective injuries. Linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga and defensive end Dominique Robinson also dealt with injuries.

It wasn’t much better luck offensively. The Bears were already without starting left tackle Theo Benedet, who was out with a quad injury. Chicago lost right guard Jonah Jackson in the second quarter when he sustained an eye injury. Jackson did some back in the third quarter.

The Bears could get some players back for Friday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Both Jaylon Johnson and Gordon could be activated in time for that kickoff. But Ben Johnson wasn’t looking for any excuses, no matter how many injuries there are.

“We’ll get some of the reinforcements back at some point,” Ben Johnson said. “But until then, we’ve got to hold down the fort. So that’s what we’ll do. These guys are going to compete. This is what we’ve been practicing for, what we’ve been training for all along.”