Did DJ Moore deserve the taunting penalty after tossing the football at Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback James Pierre and sharing some words?
“I plead the fifth,” Moore said after Sunday’s game at Soldier Field.
The Chicago Bears receiver appeared to take exception to something after Pierre forced Moore to the sideline on a play midway through the third quarter. Moore threw the ball with a little underhanded toss right into Pierre’s chest. The penalty moved the Bears back 15 yards.
For some teams, a 15-yard penalty like that would be a drive killer. For these Chicago Bears, it was nothing of the sort.
One play later, Moore found himself wide open in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown to take the lead, which the Bears would not relent the rest of the way during Sunday’s 31-28 win over the Steelers. The Bears moved to 8-3 and remain atop the NFC North division.
“They all feel great, no matter what happened the play before or anything,” Moore said of the touchdown.
Bears wide receiver DJ Moore celebrates after a touchdown reception in the third quarter against the Steelers on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, at Soldier Field. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Moore scored two touchdowns Sunday and led the Bears with five receptions for 64 yards. It marked his first touchdown receptions since Week 3 and his first game with multiple receiving touchdowns since Oct. 6, 2024, against the Carolina Panthers.
Moore’s second touchdown, moments after the taunting penalty, came after a Steelers defender jumped offsides and Bears center Drew Dalman immediately snapped the football. Recognizing he had a free play because of the penalty, quarterback Caleb Williams took a shot downfield and saw Moore all alone.
The Steelers have a tenacious pass rush that is spearheaded by their speed off the edge. Coming into the game, Bears coach Ben Johnson thought Pittsburgh’s quick trigger might be something the Bears could take advantage of.
“It’s such a good pass-rushing group,” Johnson said. “We were trying to find ways to slow them down a little bit and that was an opportunity for us to work our cadence, and I thought the execution of it was really well done. Something we’ve been working on since the springtime, through training camp. Everybody on the offense has slowly gotten better at that.”
Four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers has traditionally been one of the best quarterbacks at taking advantage of those situations when there’s an offsides penalty and the offense has a free play. On Sunday, Rodgers was forced to watch from the sideline as Williams and the Bears did it to his team. Rodgers missed the game due to a fractured left wrist and backup Mason Rudolph started in his place.
Moore said those free plays are all about recognizing the situation and about the chemistry between the quarterback and the receiver.
It helps, too, when the defense leaves a target unguarded.
“I was wide open,” Moore said. “So I didn’t know what to do. Caleb said he threw the ball before I turned and I was like, ‘Damn right you did, because I seen it more than halfway already coming to me.’”
Week 12 photos: Chicago Bears 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 28
As they have all season, the Bears took advantage of the opportunity presented to them. That’s been a theme with Johnson’s resilient bunch, who are now 6-1 in one-possession games and haven’t lost a one-score game since Week 1.
Even so, the offense was unhappy with the way it finished the game. Leading by three points in the fourth quarter, the Bears had two opportunities to potentially put the game away — but both possessions ended with three-and-outs and punts.
“We could’ve done a better job, obviously, just ending the game when we could’ve,” said rookie tight end Colston Loveland, who also caught a touchdown pass.
“It’s nice when you get to learn from wins,” Williams said. “And you find ways when you have mess-ups, when you find ways to win, but also understand that we have so much left in the tank and we can be so much better.”
Williams went 19-for-35 passing for 239 yards with three touchdown passes. But the second-year quarterback left some plays out there. As has happened from time to time this season, his accuracy wasn’t quite up to the standard that he set for himself.
Per NFL Next Gen Stats, 10 of Williams’ incompletions came on passes that were in the short or intermediate area of the field (fewer than 20 yards downfield).
“It starts with me and it falls down to everybody else,” Williams said. “Missing a few passes, a couple passes that recently I’ve been kind of just surgical with. Missed those passes today and it was frustrating, but trying to stay positive for the guys.”
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) sacks Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) to cause a fumble resulting in a touchdown for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter at Soldier Field on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
The accuracy issues weren’t the worst of it, though. Williams lost the football in his own end zone on a strip sack from Steelers star pass rusher T.J. Watt in the first half. Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig jumped on the fumble for a touchdown. The score put the Steelers ahead 14-7 at the time. Bears running back D’Andre Swift fumbled on the next possession, too, but Williams and the offense regrouped and took care of the football from that point on.
As Williams noted, it feels a lot better to learn from a win than from a loss. The Bears have a quick turnaround and one of the NFC’s toughest challenges in the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday.
The Bears have been able to get away with some mistakes and miscues against the teams on their schedule thus far. Now, perhaps, comes the hardest part. Teams like the Eagles, the Green Bay Packers, the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions, who all remain on the schedule, don’t often let their opponents get away with mistakes.
“We’re an 8-3 team in the National Football League,” Williams said. “We feel good with where we’re at, but we do have to get better.”
Johnson is going to learn a lot about his team this week. He’s learned plenty already, particularly about the persistence of this group when they fall behind. Again on Sunday, they battled back from an early deficit.
If the Bears have shown anything through the last two months, it’s that they aren’t going away easily.
“Going for nine (wins) and just getting it any way we can,” Moore said. “We’re winning in every fashion.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/23/chicago-bears-pittsburgh-steelers-dj-moore/
