Former Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon made NFL history on Sunday with three sacks and a pair of forced fumbles to help the Chicago Bears secure a 31-23 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

The 2022 second-round draft pick made his 2026 regular-season debut in historic fashion after missing the first five games of the year with a calf injury. Gordon became the first defensive back to record three sacks and more than one forced fumble in the same game since sacks became a league stat in 1982. He joined 12 other defensive backs, including fellow former Husky Lawyer Milloy, to reach the sack total but separated himself with the two turnovers.

To make what Gordon did even more impressive: it happened on just 16 defensive snaps in the Week 6 win.

"He was ready to play," coach Ben Johnson said of the defender's performance. "I talked with Kyler yesterday (Saturday) morning and said, 'Hey, I think we want to activate you. Are you ready to go?' And he said, 'Absolutely.' He sure enough was. Huge spark for us on defense. I thought (defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) put him in some good spots, but he's so twitchy; he's very hard to block as a blitzer. Tight in coverage, also. We got to make sure we keep him on that right track. We tried to limit his role a little bit, just making sure that he was in good football shape. But those snaps that he had were huge for us today."

Gordon, a 16-game starter for the Huskies from 2018-21 under Chris Petersen and Jimmy Lake, came into the game with 2.5 career sacks and two forced fumbles over the first four years of his NFL career in the Windy City. With three more sacks added to his name on Sunday, the Archbishop Murphy High School product now has a half or full sack in four consecutive seasons.

His first impact play came on a third-and-4 combined tackle for loss on Falcons running back Bijan Robinson that led to a turnover on downs for the Falcons one play later. On Atlanta's final play of the game, Gordon took down fellow ex-UW star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. for an 8-yard sack on third-and-16 and hit the left-hander's arm just before he could get a pass off that led to his second forced fumble of the day.

"Everything I wanted," Gordon said after the game on his return. "I want to be on the field and contribute, add to this team and help drive the direction we're going to go, and that's what I did."

In his first three seasons in the NFL after being selected by the NFC North organization with the No. 39 pick, Gordon made 34 starts and appeared in 42 games. Since then, he's played in just four games and had only one start for the Bears, including Sunday's triumphant 2026 debut, while battling through multiple soft tissue injuries that have limited his availability.

Following the seven-point road, Gordon stated the conversations involving his lack of appearances over the past year and a half haven't bothered or gotten to him. He signed a three-year, $40 million deal in April 2025 that, with the injuries that followed, has muddied the waters surrounding his potential future in Chicago.

After his performance against the Falcons, those conversations should die down as he continues to produce on the field and help elevate the Bears to another division title this season.