Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has steadily improved in each of his first five NFL starts, but in Sunday's 36-10 win over the Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field, the rookie took his game to another level.

Williams completed 20 of his 29 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns, finished with a career-best 126.2 passer rating and didn't turn the ball over.

The Bears offense succeeded at finding a balance of short-yardage completions and downfield explosive plays in the passing game while leaning on the rushing attack when necessary. Williams told reporters after the game that balance can "limit what defenses can do."

"When you're hitting on different things, now the defense is just trying to scramble and trying to figure it out," Williams said. "When you're being consistent like how we were today with the run game and with the pass game — hitting some explosive plays — it does good for the whole football team. It keeps us on the football field, being efficient.

"… Having those momentum swings and being able to keep it — with the team that we have in defense, special teams and offense — us playing together and playing like that, you're gonna win a lot of games."

Williams was not only efficient in his third career win, but he also spread the ball around in completing passes to six different receivers. While Williams has shown a connection with fellow rookie Rome Odunze, tight end Cole Kmet and running back D'Andre Swift in previous weeks, Sunday was time to show off his chemistry with receiver DJ Moore. Williams and Moore connected on five of eight targets for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

The first score was a 34-yard strike on the Bears' second possession of the game. On second-and-6, Williams found Moore wide open at the Carolina 14, where the receiver tiptoed along the right sideline before dashing into the end zone.

Moore referred to the second TD, a 30-yard strike in the back of the end zone just before halftime, as "a dot," and credited that play to the pair's work in practice.

"I've been wanting to hit one of those," Williams said. "DJ is such a special player and y'all saw it today, making plays. I think at one point, he was 100-something [yards] for a couple catches. Having a special player like that on your team, you obviously want to get him the ball and let him be DJ, be special. It felt really good. We were super excited. We get to the sideline, and we were both like, 'finally, we were able to hit something like that.'"

Along with his increased productivity through the air — he became the first Bears rookie QB with multiple 300-yard games — Williams also showed off his ability to evade pressure, extend plays and scramble to make something out of nothing. He carried the ball five times for 34 yards and picked up three first downs.

While Williams' scrambling can force the offensive line to block for a longer period of time on a given play, the group knows the payoff is worth it.

"I just think: 'finish until something happens,'" left tackle Braxton Jones said. "That's the O-line's mindset, never stop giving up on the play and just block 'til eternity. That's what I do. Whatever I can do to shoot him loose, just block for forever, and I know that guy is going to get out of the pocket and make insane plays, so you gotta allow him to do that."

While it has taken Williams and the offense a few weeks to fully click and find a rhythm, the Bears locker room has seen exponential improvement from the rookie between each game, both on gamedays and in practice at Halas Hall.

Kmet has been impressed by how quick of a learner Williams is, saying it showcases his "willingness to get better each and every week." The veteran also complimented his quarterback's increased command of the offense, which he has seen happen "a lot faster than I anticipated at this point."

For right tackle Darnell Wright, the way Williams handled adversity in the first few weeks of the season showcased the team captain's leadership and maturity. Seeing how Williams' calm yet confident demeanor culminated in his best NFL outing to date brought Wright an added sense of joy to go along with the win.

"What you have to understand is he's a rookie quarterback coming in and trying to get everyone on the same page and be the leader in a sense," Wright added. "It's not an overnight thing for anyone, but he's done a great job. He's just gotten better and better and better. That's all you can ask. You can't ask him to go out there and be Superman, but he's just gotten better and better and I'm happy for him."