QB Caleb Williams has another rough day as the Bears lose to the Patriots 19-3

CHICAGO (AP) — Right before Chicago's bye week, it looked as if Caleb Williams had turned a corner. It looked as if everything was coming together for the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.

These days, not so much. And that's a major issue for the Bears going into the most difficult part of their schedule.

Playing behind a patchwork offensive line, Williams was sacked nine times and passed for just 120 yards during Sunday's 19-3 loss to the lowly New England Patriots. The Bears went 1 for 14 on third down and finished with just 142 yards in their third consecutive loss.

“We have to do a better job, starting with us, starting with myself, at situational ball, negative plays and things like that," Williams said. “When you're good at not having negative plays, when you're good at executing, when you're good at executing situational ball, you're a tough team to beat.”

Chicago (4-5) failed to score a touchdown in back-to-back games for the first time since December 2004. It has scored a total of 27 points during its slide.

When it comes to breaking out of the offensive funk, coach Matt Eberflus said everything is on the table — including having someone other than offensive coordinator Shane Waldron call the plays.

“We've got to take a good hard look at everything that we're doing,” Eberflus said.

Williams, who turns 23 on Nov. 18, dropped his first NFL matchup with each of the two quarterbacks that were taken right after him in the draft. The Bears lost 18-15 at Washington on Oct. 27 on Jayden Daniels' last-second Hail Mary, and Drake Maye directed New England to its third win of the season.

Chicago had won three in a row before its current slide. Williams completed 74% of his passes for 687 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception during the win streak. The promising stretch culminated with Williams throwing for four TDs in a 35-16 victory over Jacksonville.

The Bears had their open week after defeating the Jaguars in London on Oct. 13. Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, it looks as if Williams and company lost their way.

“We’ve got to as a collective offense do a better job of sustaining drives and those type of things will come if we’re more efficient on offense,” tight end Cole Kmet said.

Williams has completed 50.5% of his passes for 468 yards in the past three games. He has no TD passes and no interceptions during the losing streak, and he has been sacked 18 times.

“Caleb's strong. He's strong inside. He's strong outside. He's a strong individual,” Eberflus said. “And he's been through adversity. And he knows how to do this, he knows how to get through adversity by pulling together.”

The adversity for Chicago at the moment includes a rash of injuries with its offensive line. The Bears played without Braxton Jones (knee), Kiran Amegadjie (calf) and Darnell Wright (knee). Nate Davis was inactive after experiencing some back tightness, and Teven Jenkins left in the first half with an ankle injury.

Amid all those injuries on the offensive line, Chicago is heading into a brutal last part of its schedule. Jordan Love and Green Bay are in town next Sunday. The Bears also have two games left against Detroit and Minnesota, along with a trip to San Francisco and a home date against Seattle.

“I think us, as an offense, you know, we do have to find it right now here in this instance just because we’re going, we’re getting close to, and it starts this week, playing teams like Green Bay and Detroit and Vikings and all of that,” Williams said.

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Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus applaudes his team during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

New England Patriots safety Brenden Schooler, right, sacks Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams as linebacker Anfernee Jennings assists during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

New England Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings (33) sacks Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

New England Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings sacks Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams warms up before an NFL football game against the New England Patriots on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams passes during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 people in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including three children and two high-ranking officers in the Hamas-run police force, according to Palestinian and hospital officials.

One strike early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter.

Another strike killed at least eight Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip. The dead were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital confirmed the toll.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials, who say women and children make up more than half the fatalities. The officials do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their tally.

The war was sparked by Hamas-led militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel. They killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 that day. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Here's the latest:

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military has claimed responsibility for a nighttime raid in Syria last September in which it says dozens of commandos destroyed a top-secret Iranian-led missile factory.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said Thursday that Iran, working with its Syrian and the Hezbollah allies, planned to build hundreds of precision guided missiles per year at the factory that could be transferred to Lebanon. He said the facility was located in western Syria around the town of Masyaf near the Lebanese border.

He said Israel had been monitoring the underground facility for several years, but decided to strike at a time when Israel was at war with Hezbollah and the factory was becoming operational.

“This facility posed a clear threat to the state of Israel and this is why we had to take action,” he said.

Shoshani said over 100 special force soldiers took part in the Sept. 8 raid, backed by dozens of aircraft. Calling it one of Israel’s most complex operations in years, he said soldiers arrived by helicopter and entered the facility, which he said was dug deep into the side of a mountain.

In bodycam footage released by the Israeli military, special forces are seen moving through wide underground hallways and seizing documents, before a large explosion destroys the site. The video, which could not be independently verified, also showed images of what the army said was missile-manufacturing equipment.

At the time, Syrian state media reported four deaths from a series of Israeli airstrikes in the area. Shoshani said there were no Israeli casualties, and that Israel also damaged another missile-production facility in Lebanon during the war.

Israel and Hezbollah reached a cease-fire in late November, halting nearly 14 months of fighting.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital Thursday after recovering from prostate surgery Sunday.

Doctors at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital said Netanyahu was recuperating satisfactorily, although he still has a period of recovery ahead. Medical follow-ups will continue as usual, according to a hospital statement.

Despite doctor’s orders to remain hospitalized, the 75-year-old leader had briefly left the facility to participate in a vote in Israel’s parliament on Tuesday.

KYIV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s president says his country is poised to reestablish diplomatic ties with Syria after the fall of President Bashar Assad and sharply increase agricultural exports to Lebanon despite being engaged in an almost three-year war with Russia.

The developments came after a recent visit to those countries by Ukraine’s top diplomat and its government minister for farming, according to a statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday. Ukraine is aiming to build up its security and trade relations in the Middle East, he said.

Ukraine and Syria are assessing cooperation within international organizations, and Syria could this year become a “reliable partner” for Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian officials met with Syria’s new de facto authorities led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The insurgents had ousted Assad, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in early December.

Ukrainian agricultural exports to Lebanon are around $400 million a year but Zelenskyy said he hopes to at least double that.

Ukraine is a leading world producer of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and other food products.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it targeted a senior member of Hamas’ internal security apparatus in a strike in the Gaza Strip that Palestinian officials say killed nine other people, including three children.

The strike early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter.

The military said Hossam Shahwan, a senior officer in the Hamas-run police force in Gaza, was involved in gathering intelligence used by Hamas’ armed wing in attacks on Israeli forces.

Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Salah, another senior police official, was also killed in the strike.

The military says Hamas militants hide among civilians and blames the group for their deaths in the nearly 15-month war, which was ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel.

The Hamas-run government had a police force numbering in the tens of thousands that maintained a high degree of public security before the war while also violently suppressing dissent.

The police have largely vanished from the streets in many areas after being targeted by Israel, contributing to the breakdown of law and order that has hindered the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.

DAMASCUS, Syria — The forces together with armed vehicles were deployed in the city of Homs Thursday to look for the militants affiliated with ousted President Bashar Assad, state media reported.

SANA, citing a military official, said that the new de facto authorities led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had set up centers in Syria’s third-largest city for former soldiers and militants to hand over their weapons, similar to other parts of Syria.

In early December, a lightning insurgency took out the decades-long rule of Assad in less than two weeks. HTS has since run much of war-torn Syria under the authority of its leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Officials who were part of Assad's notorious web of intelligence and security apparatus have been arrested over the past few weeks.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: An Israeli strike has killed at least eight Palestinian men in the central Gaza Strip.

The dead were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital confirmed the toll.

Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed at least 10 people, including three children and two senior officers in the Hamas-run police.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes.

Israel has repeatedly targeted the police, contributing to a breakdown of law and order in the territory that has made it difficult for humanitarian groups to deliver aid. Israel accuses Hamas of hijacking aid for its own purposes.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Al Jazeera has condemned the Palestinian Authority’s decision to bar it from operating in the occupied West Bank, saying the decision was “in line” with similar actions taken by Israel.

In a statement Thursday, the Qatar-based broadcaster accused the Western-backed authority of seeking to “hide the truth about events in the occupied territories, especially what is happening in Jenin and its camps.”

The Palestinian Authority, which cooperates with Israel on security matters, launched a rare crackdown on anti-Israel militants in the urban Jenin refugee camp last month. The authority has international support but is unpopular among many Palestinians, with critics portraying it as a subcontractor of the Israeli occupation.

The Palestinian Authority announced the suspension of Al Jazeera’s activities on Wednesday, accusing it of incitement and interfering in Palestinian internal affairs. The Palestinian Authority exercises limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel banned Al Jazeera last year, accusing it of being a mouthpiece of Hamas. Israeli strikes have killed or wounded several Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza, and Israel has accused some of them of being militants. Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera’s West Bank headquarters last year, but the broadcaster has continued to operate in the territory.

Al Jazeera denies the allegations and accuses Israel of trying to silence its coverage. Its 24-hour reporting from Gaza has focused on the deaths of Palestinian civilians. It has also broadcast Hamas and other militant videos in their entirety, showing attacks on Israeli forces and hostages speaking under duress.

Palestinian children play next to a building destroyed by Israeli army strikes in the central Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli soldiers stand in a bullet-ridden house during a tour for army personnel to observe the damage caused by the Oct. 7 Hamas onslaught at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in Israel, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

An Israeli soldier jumps off an armoured vehicle at a staging area near the Gaza border in southern Israel, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov))

Palestinians prepare the body for the funeral of a man killed during an Israeli army strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. The strike killed at least eight men members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A man reacts in grief as the body of 8-year-old Adam Farajallah is brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following an airstrike on a house in the Bureij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A man mourns over the body of a Palestinian man killed during an Israeli army strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. The strike killed at least eight men members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian girls collect donated food at a food distribution center in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

An Israeli soldier covers his ears as an artillery gunner fires into the Gaza Strip from a position in southern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A destroyed part of Gaza City as seen from southern Israel, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov))

Palestinians inspect the site of an earlier Israeli army strike in the Muwasi area, in Khan Younis, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. According to Palestinian medical officials, the airstrike killed at least 10 people, including three children and two senior police officers, in an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)