The Chicago Bears of yesteryear would be 1-4 right now. If you’d seen how the previous two games unfolded, there is no way the Matt Eberflus teams would’ve pulled out victories late in the 4th quarter. Never was it clearer that things have changed under Ben Johnson. The new head coach stated from the beginning that his goal was to instill mental toughness in his team. You can’t expect to win in the NFL if you can’t handle the highs and lows of playing this sport. That was a constant issue last year.
Monday night in Washington showed that things have undeniably changed.
It unfolded in familiar fashion. Chicago took a 13-7 lead into the halftime locker room. Then Washington mounted a furious surge in the 3rd quarter, going ahead 17-16. It felt like they delivered the knockouts with another touchdown to make it 24-16. The Bears didn’t blink. Three plays later, Caleb Williams found D’Andre Swift, who went 55 yards for a touchdown to make it 24-22.
After the teams traded punts, it looked like Washington was going to increase their lead until a flubbed handoff saw Nahshon Wright recover a fumble to give the Bears a shot. Swift carried the load the rest of the way, setting up Jake Moody for an incredible game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired.
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Ben Johnson has changed the culture.
Normally, you couldn’t say that after just five games, but the evidence is overwhelming. The Bears started their season a brutal 4th quarter collapse and then a 52-21 implosion in Detroit. They never would’ve recovered from that in previous years. Ben Johnson refused to let them quit. They beat up on Dallas the next week and delivered a wild rally in Las Vegas to escape into the bye.
Now, they had to return to the scene of their greatest nightmare, facing a Washington team that had crushed their spirits in the Hail Mary game last season. The Commanders did their part with the second half counterblows. This time, though, the Bears didn’t blink. They took the shot and then fired right back. Once again, Johnson trusted Williams to lead the way. This time, the quarterback was willing to lean on the hot hand, which was Swift.
People can criticize Johnson’s decisions from that game, but nobody can argue the influence. This team plays much harder and tougher than at any point in the past several years.