Bears' grades are in. How did they do against the Patriots?

Say this for Bears coach Ben Johnson after a 30-24 win against the Patriots at Soldier Field: Giving Cairo Santos — far from the strongest-legged kicker in the sport — a shot at a 58-yarder to all but put the game away was utterly fearless. Crazy? That, too, but still fearless. It was an A-plus move by Johnson, who would've had a lot of explaining to do had Santos come up short. All's well that ends well.

Let's get to all the grades:

QUARTERBACK — A-

Caleb Williams became the first Bears quarterback to throw for 300 yards in consecutive games since the great Mitch Trubisky in 2018. He put it where wide receiver Luther Burden could run with it after the catch and fed tight end Colston Loveland as needed. You had to love it when the locked-in Williams gave Burden the business after a 58-yard gain for celebrating instead of getting back to the huddle, requiring a Bears timeout. You also had to be impressed when Williams stood tall, took a big hit and delivered a perfect ball to Loveland — who dropped it — then came right back on the next down with a 22-yard dart to Burden, despite being roughed on the play. A 21-yard completion to Rome Odunze on third-and-11 in the fourth quarter — again under a heavy rush — was Pro Bowl stuff. Williams did take a terrible sack in the final minutes, which potentially could have been very costly, but kicker Cairo Santos took him off the hook.

RUNNING GAME: B

The Bears just don’t have the same oomph without Kyle Monangai, but D’Andre Swift held things down admirably against a tough defense. A tip of the helmet to Swift for not missing any game time after a hard, straight-on hit to his left knee in the first quarter. It tore a big hole in his pants, baring a bloodied knee, but, hey, he’s a hockey player.

TIGHT ENDS: B

Loveland had a second consecutive big game and scored a touchdown, but his pair of drops left some bigger numbers out there. With an early catch, Cole Kmet became only the second Bears tight end to reach the 3,000-receiving-yard mark, joining Mike Ditka. Alas, Kmet appeared to injure his right knee late in the game and had to be carted off.

LINEBACKERS: B-

With T.J. Edwards inactive again, D’Marco Jackson made his presence felt with several hard hits and an interception in the end zone after running step-for-step with tight end Eli Raridon. Otherwise, the linebackers — especially Devin Bush — were flummoxed by the Patriots’ tight ends in coverage. Bush did make a huge third-down, open-field stop on quarterback Drake Maye that forced a punt in the fourth quarter.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: C

The Patriots’ 48-yard touchdown on the final play of the first half — a catch-and-run-run-run by running back Rhamondre Stevenson — involved some colossally bad defense by the guys in the back end. Jaylon Johnson’s effort at a tackle on the play was severely lacking. Yo, Dillon Thieneman? Act like a first-rounder and don’t let that happen.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-

Santos gave fans the worst kind of 2018 flashbacks when he doinked a 53-yard field-goal attempt with eight minutes left and left the score at 27-21, giving the Patriots a chance to take the lead. But he more than made up for it on a three-field-goal night with a 58-yarder right down the middle to make it 30-21 and all but end the game. Who knew he had 58 in him? Tory Taylor had a 65-yard punt and Zavion Thomas a 47-yard kickoff return. Odunze also fell on the Patriots’ last-gasp onside kick.