Luther Burden’s flea flicker sparks the Chicago Bears, while a 19-play TD drive iced the win over Dallas Cowboys

Luther Burden and Caleb Williams worked on the play all week. Burden understood his assignment. It was all in the timing.

One. Two. Three. Go!

The Chicago Bears rookie receiver faked like he was going to run block, slowly scooting upfield to lull the defensive backs to sleep. Dallas Cowboys cornerback Kaiir Elam bit on the fake. He ran five yards toward the line of scrimmage before he realized what was happening. Safety Malik Hooker moved a step forward, too.

By then, it was too late.

Running back D’Andre Swift caught a pitch from Williams, then pitched the ball back to the quarterback. Swift’s pitch was far from perfect, but it got the job done and Williams released a quick deep ball for Burden.

Burden looked up and saw the football in the air.

“I think I saw a touchdown,” Burden said.

And a touchdown is exactly what he had. The 21-year-old St. Louis native beat everyone to the end zone for a 65-yard touchdown.

It proved to be the most explosive play in an afternoon full of them for the Bears offense. Williams threw four touchdown passes and led the Bears to a 31-14 win over quarterback Dak Prescott and the Cowboys.

The win marked the first victory of the Ben Johnson era, and the first of the season for a Bears team that moved to 1-2. After months of discussing what Johnson’s offense might look like in Chicago — and following two lukewarm efforts to start the season — the offense might have finally arrived in Week 3.

At the very least, a matchup with a reeling Cowboys defense — coordinated by former Bears coach Matt Eberflus — is a good place to kickstart a passing attack. Johnson credited his coaching staff for the flea flicker. He said they dug through film from Dallas, but also film from Eberflus’ time in Chicago, and noticed the Cowboys might be susceptible to such a play.

“That was really a staff find,” Johnson said.

The play nearly went awry from the start. Swift got bumped as he went to pitch back to Williams and his toss lobbed high into the air.

Johnson called the ball handling “a little bit iffy.” Williams called Swift’s pitch a “free throw kind of floater kind of thing.”

Swift had a different adjective: “That was high as s−−−.”

But his quarterback did a great job corralling it and not panicking. The Bears had practiced the play — which Burden said was called “White House” in the playbook — all week. Williams missed Burden a few times in practice. He underthrew it once or twice.

“I told Luther: You won’t outrun me in the game. Just run,” Williams said Sunday.

Williams released the pass quickly before the pass rush could reach him. It was the longest pass completion from the Bears since Week 8 of 2018, per the team, and the longest receiving touchdown by a Bears rookie since 2015.

Williams had one of his best games as a pro. He threw for 298 yards and four scores, while completing 67.9% of his passes. His four touchdowns matched the career-high he set last year in a mid-October win over Jacksonville in London.

Williams also connected with Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet and DJ Moore for touchdowns. A 35-yard touchdown to Odunze kicked off the scoring in the first quarter. Odunze changed his route after the nearest defender slipped. He threw his hand in the air, signaling he was going deep, and Williams hit him in stride for Odunze’s fourth touchdown reception of the season.

“Man, he was playing ball,” Odunze said of his quarterback. “In the pocket, outside the pocket. Making plays with his feet. All different types of things. That’s the talent that he is and I’m sure he’ll continue to do so moving forward.”

Burden’s touchdown came on the following offensive possession, which went down as a one-play, 65-yard drive. The rookie led the Bears with three catches for 101 yards and a score. After halftime, the Bears offense showed some versatility. The defense forced a punt and the Bears took over, leading by 10. Johnson saw an opportunity for a different type of drive.

The Bears grinded out a 19-play, 76-yard touchdown drive that ate up nearly 10 minutes of clock.

“That’s the type of drive you need to have against offenses like that,” Swift said. “You just want to keep them on the bench.”

At one point, Johnson called 11 consecutive run plays.

“Phew, it was tiring, especially because he kept calling those specialty plays with me,” right tackle Darnell Wright told the Tribune. “So I was running all over the place.”

But when Wright looked across the line of scrimmage, he saw a defensive line that was gassed.

“You can definitely see it wearing them out,” Wright said.

The Bears faced a fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line. There was no hesitation from Johnson, who kept his offense on the field. Williams scrambled to his right and connected with Moore for his fourth touchdown pass of the day. There was still a quarter left to play, but the drive felt like a game-winner.

“That was a gritty, gritty drive,” Odunze said.

“It definitely gashes them,” Burden said. “I know they were pretty gassed.”

After the game, Burden ended his media session with a primal scream — perhaps putting on a show for his teammates around him.

“I’ve been itching to get to the end zone, man,” Burden said. “I love the end zone, man. I love it! AHHHHHH!”

He found the end zone Sunday for the first time, but probably not the last.

Luther Burden’s flea flicker sparks the Chicago Bears, while a 19-play TD drive iced the win over Dallas Cowboys

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