Handing out 3 game balls after a big Bears win over the Rams in Week 4

What a difference a week makes. Chicago Bears fans were in finger-pointing mode after a sloppy loss to the Colts last Sunday, but a little home cooking was all it took to point the season back in the right direction.

The Bears beat the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday by putting together their best team performance of the season. It didn't look like that would be the case early, as the offense struggled and the penalties mounted en route to an early 6-0 hole. After the first quarter, however, the entire team came alive. The offense scored a touchdown in three straight quarters, the defense only allowed one all day, and the special teams ... oh buddy, you better believe we'll get to the special teams.

The Bears are now 2-2, and they have the lowly Panthers coming to town next. Matt Eberflus, Ryan Poles and every player wearing those beautiful navy jerseys has to feel good.

There were teams around the league that dominated on Sunday. The Ravens destroyed the previously undefeated Bills. The Bucs wiped out the Eagles, again. The Commanders continued their hot start with a road thumping of the Cardinals. The Bears didn't quite achieve that level of excellence on Sunday, but for the first time since the season began, they appeared to be a team that is figuring things out. That deserves some game balls, and we have three to give out.

Game ball number one goes to Jaquan Brisker

This is a family-friendly website, so all I'll say about the first time I uttered Jaquan Brisker's name on Sunday was that it was in a less-than-positive way, immediately after he committed a silly late hit out of bounds that cost the Bears 15 yards. From that moment forward, though, the third-year safety was the best player on the field.

This has to be the best game Brisker has played in his short career. It's rare that T.J. Edwards doesn't lead the Bears in tackles, but Brisker beat him 12-9. He was there to stop Kyren Williams from getting loose for any huge runs, and he was there to lay the wood on the Rams receivers whenever they attempted to catch the ball.

Brisker followed his early penalty up three plays later with what was initially ruled an interception, but it was called back after replay showed he stepped out of bounds and didn't re-establish himself before catching it. He continued to make his presence felt throughout the game though, and he saved his best for the fourth quarter, crushing Matthew Stafford for a sack with the Rams driving while down nine. That helped force L.A. to settle for a field goal to cut the deficit to six.

The next time the Rams got the ball, Brisker and Jaylon Johnson stoned Williams two yards short of a first down, forcing a punt. Then on the final possession of the game, with the Bears still up six and FOX showing the audience at home how Stafford is the active leader in game-winning touchdown drives, Darrell Taylor crushed the veteran QB on the first play of the drive, and Brisker was there for the much-deserved interception to seal the win.

Game ball number two goes to D'Andre Swift

D'Andre Swift, I take back every bad thing I've said about you through the first three weeks. Part of the problem with Swift's production was clearly that he wasn't being utilized well by new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, but to Waldron's credit, he put Swift in position to succeed in this one, and succeed he did.

Swift works best when he's out in space, and whether it was on outside runs or catching the ball in the flat, there were shades of former Bear great Matt Forte in his performance on Sunday. He caught all seven of his targets and had more than double the receiving yards of the next closest Bear (a great sign in itself that Caleb Williams was willing to check it down rather than force the ball into traffic), and he constantly made Rams defenders miss all day with his open-field moves.

Swift wasn't on the field for Chicago's first touchdown of the day, a one-yard run by Roschon Johnson, but he found paydirt with an electric 36-yard scamper in the fourth quarter to put the Bears up two scores for the first time this season.

That's the Swift the Bears thought they were getting when he signed a three-year $24 million deal this offseason. He made one man miss, then used his speed to outrun everyone else. Credit also to the offensive line, which has similarly had a rough start to the year, but stepped up on Sunday, and on this play especially.

Swift ended the day with true workhorse numbers — 23 touches for 165 yards and that touchdown. More important than the stats, though, was how he proved that he could be counted on to carry the load going forward. This was the Bears' best offensive game of the season, and though fans have to be thrilled with Caleb Williams' performance, especially in the second half, Swift was the star of the show.

Game ball number three goes to Tory Taylor

Punters don't get a lot of game balls, but then again punters aren't often drafted in the fourth round, either. I have enjoyed every moment of the Tory Taylor experience, from his college days as Iowa's best and most-used weapon, to draft day (yes, I was one of the weirdos that loved the pick), to everything he's shown since arriving in Chicago.

I was shocked when the broadcast showed early on that Taylor ranked near the bottom of the league in net yards per punt, but considering that six of his 15 punts through three weeks were inside the 20, that explains it.

There are a lot of things in an NFL football game that can wow you. Matthew Stafford's little flick pass to Colby Parkinson was one. Caleb Williams' bullet over the middle to Cole Kmet was another. Nearly everything we mentioned that Jaquan Brisker and D'Andre Swift did.

Up there with all of it was Taylor. He punted the ball five times on the day, and each one was more phenomenal than the last. First was a 51-yarder to pin the Rams at the five. Then was a 64-yard mortar from his own 27 to the Rams 9. His third punt was a touchback, but being as it traveled 61 yards and still netted 41, I think we can forgive him for that.

The Bears offense finally got going midway through the game, and Taylor was able to rest his leg until there were less than seven minutes left. The Bears were only up six at this point and desperately needed their rookie to flip the field, but he did much more than that, cranking one 66 yards and out of bounds at the 8. For his curtain call, he again pinned the Rams at the 8 with one of his patented high backspin numbers. One play later, Brisker picked off Stafford and the Bears had their second win.

I text my cousin, a fellow Bears fan, throughout every game, and looking back on our messages, almost half of them were us marveling at Taylor's incredible performance. In a game that featured plenty to be enthusiastic about from all three phases, that says it all.

The Rams dropped to 1-3 with the loss, but anytime you can beat a team coached by Sean McVay and quarterbacked by Matthew Stafford, that's a good day in my book. We all know the Bears stole a game that they didn't truly deserve to win in Week 1, so this will be the first Monday of the season that Bears fans can really hold their heads high and revel in the sweetness of victory.