CHICAGO – Aaron Rodgers wasn’t available to continue his mastery of the Chicago Bears. He could merely watch from the sideline as the Pittsburgh Steelers continued their misery at Soldier Field.

The Bears converted a pair of Mason Rudolph turnovers into 14 points, Caleb Williams threw three touchdown passes and the Steelers blew a halftime lead en route to a 31-28 defeat Sunday.

The loss not only extended the Steelers’ record in Chicago to 1-13 all time, it dropped them into a tie with the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC North. The Steelers and Ravens each have 6-5 records, but while the Ravens have won five in a row, the Steelers have lost four of their past six.

“We have a lot of things that need to be fixed and fixed quickly,” said outside linebacker T.J. Watt, whose strip sack and fumble recovery by Nick Herbig in the end zone gave the Steelers a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. “We need to play our best football at this stretch of the season. We need to get better and get better quick.”

It was the third game this season the Steelers lost after holding a halftime lead. That doesn’t include a loss at Cincinnati when they were ahead 10-0 in the first half.

“It’s unacceptable,” Watt said.

At one point, the Steelers had a 2.5-game lead in the division, while the Ravens sat in third place 3.5 games behind. They will meet twice in the final six weeks. Next up, though, is 7-4 Buffalo, which is in second place in the AFC East after entering the season as a Super Bowl contender.

“The hourglass is going, the sand is falling through,” defensive tackle Cameron Heyward said. “There is not a lot of time for mistakes.”

Rudolph started after coach Mike Tomlin decided Saturday to scratch Rodgers, who has been dealing with a left wrist fracture.

Rudolph threw an interception and lost a fumble on a strip sack. The Bears, the NFL leader in takeaways, converted both gifts into touchdowns and also scored another touchdown after stopping the Steelers on fourth-and-1.

Rudolph threw a touchdown pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth in the fourth quarter and had the offense in Chicago territory with 30 seconds remaining, but it was too little, too late.

“There has never been panic here,” Rudolph said. “I’ve been a Pittsburgh Steeler long enough to know we’ve been behind, we’ve been down in the division, up, and it’s a natural ebb and flow of the season. I’m confident in our guys to keep fighting and end up on top.”

Rodgers had a 24-5 career record against the Bears and, for a while, it looked like the Steelers wouldn’t need his services. The Steelers held a 21-14 lead late in the first half before the Bears scored 17 unanswered points.

Rudolph completed 24 of 31 attempts for 171 yards. He was sacked twice.

“I thought he was game. He always is,” Tomlin said. “He made plays for us, particularly in the fourth quarter. But as a collective, him included, we didn’t do enough to win.”

Williams, the former No. 1 overall draft pick, completed 19 of 35 passes for 239 yards and threw two of his touchdown passes to D.J. Moore while helping the Bears improve to 8-3.

Trailing 21-17 at halftime, the Bears regained the lead at 8:29 of the third quarter when Williams found a wide-open Moore for a 25-yard touchdown.

The first two drives of the second half ended in punts for the Steelers. On the third, a pass interference call on a deep throw intended for Calvin Austin III gave the Steelers a first down at the Chicago 35. On second down, Rudolph was sacked for a 7-yard loss and had the ball ripped from his grasp. The Bears recovered at the Chicago 46 and for the second time in the game, they turned the takeaway into a touchdown.

Kyle Monangai scored on a 2-yard run with 14:14 remaining to put the Steelers in a 31-21 hole.

“The defense could have smiled in the face of adversity better,” Tomlin said.

Rudolph threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Freiermuth with 6:27 left to play.

The Steelers got the ball back at their 11 with 4:37 left. Rudolph’s 22-yard run on third down was negated by an illegal shift penalty. His third-and-9 pass was tipped, and Tomlin elected to punt with 2:01 left.

“I was holding all three (timeouts),” Tomlin said, “and, as you can see, we got the ball back.”

The final drive began at the 20, but the Steelers had no timeouts remaining as they lost their final one because of an injury to cornerback James Pierre prior to the Bears punt.

Rudolph led the offense to the Chicago 47, but his fourth-down pass was batted down with 17 seconds left.

Rudolph’s first attempt of the game was a deep shot down the left sideline for Metcalf. Cornerback Nahshon Wright outjumped Metcalf for the ball, intercepting it at the Chicago 44. This led to Williams throwing a 5-yard TD pass to Moore.

A misplay on the kickoff led to the Steelers starting their next possession at the 5. Rudolph directed a 95-yard touchdown drive, completing all six of his passes for 56 yards. Metcalf capped it with a 6-yard run.

“I was super proud of the way we responded,” Rudolph said.

Watt’s strip sack and Herbig’s fumble recovery provided the Steelers with their first lead just 16 seconds into the second quarter. The Bears turned it over again, but Connor Heyward was stopped on a Tush Push attempt at the Chicago 30.

“If you can’t make it on fourth down and one, often you don’t deserve to win.”

Williams responded by throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colston Loveland.

The Steelers had better luck executing the Tush Push on their next drive. Heyward took the direct snap, but instead of plunging into the line, he handed off to Gainwell, who ran around right end for 55 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the 1.

Warren scored on the next play for a 21-14 lead with 1:19 left in the half.

It left the Bears enough time, though, for Cairo Santos to kick a 47-yard field goal at the buzzer. And the comeback was on for the Bears.

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