Reacting to the Bears' comeback win over the New York Giants | After the Whistle
The Chicago Bears pulled another one out of their hat.
Down 20-10 in the fourth quarter, Caleb Williams engineered a two-touchdown comeback in the final five minutes to stun the New York Giants 24-20.
It was thanks to the Bears’ QB1, their young weapons and a veteran newcomer that’s gotten time to get his feet wet after being here for just over a week.
Here’s what we learned from the Bears’ comeback win over the Giants.
One takeaway was enough, thanks to CJ
The Giants were rolling down the field in the third quarter.
The Bears really had no answer for Jaxson Dart. He threw for 242 yards and rushed for two touchdowns. He should have been intercepted by Nahshon Wright, but Wright dropped the pass in the end zone.
Still, the defense rallied.
Eleven days ago, CJ Gardner-Johnson signed on to the Bears’ active roster. Since then, he’s provided a spark for a defense that’s needed it.
"He’s always been a phenomenal football player," Johnson said. "Our guys are gravitating toward his swagger."
Kyler Gordon remains sidelined. Josh Blackwell also missed Sunday after suffering a concussion last weekend. What Gardner-Johnson has done is start and provide massive plays. He had a forced fumble that changed the complexion of the game, as well as two sacks.
The starters playing alongside Gardner-Johnson mentioned how big that moment was. It created momentum for the defense when it didn’t have any.
"Guys welcome him with open arms and that makes somebody comfortable, that makes somebody feel that they could play within in the defense, play fast, have fun, have energy," Bears safety Jaquan Brisker said. "Let him just be him and things like that. Let him play fast. And obviously, (defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) had a lot of different calls for a lot of different people, so he capitalized on his opportunity."
The Bears remain late-game artists
Here are a few things to take note of.
With the late-game heroics, Sunday’s win was Caleb Williams’ sixth fourth-quarter comeback since last season. That’s tied for most in the NFL. Also, it’s Williams’ fifth game-winning drive since week 18 of 2024, which is also tied for the most in the NFL in that span.
Ben Johnson is now 4-1 as a head coach in games decided by seven points or less.
"It really feels like I’m on repeat here," Johnson said after the game. "Our guys didn’t waver."
On the flip side, this was the fourth game where the Giants were winning by 10 points or more on the road. New York is now 0-4 in such games.
The Giants are a team that cannot close. It’s reminiscent of the Bears last season, especially when they had chances to beat the Packers, Vikings, Commanders, Seahawks and Lions, but just didn’t.
The Bears, on the other hand, flipped the script from last season. They matched and eclipsed last season’s win total with Sunday’s win. It’s changed the perception of what the Bears can do.
"We’d like to take it to the next step as a football team," Johnson said. "Once again, we found a way to win and that’s the most important thing."
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 09: Kyle Monangai #25 and Rome Odunze #15 of the Chicago Bears celebrate after a touchdown against the New York Giants during the first quarter in the game at Soldier Field on November 09, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Phot
A week after an offensive onslaught, the Bears nearly did themselves in
After the game, Darnell Wright sat at his locker a bit perplexed.
When asked about the offense that was so disjointed through the first three quarters, he tried to find some of the words.
There wasn’t anything he could pinpoint, but still got frustrated about the little things that happened. Wright said he slipped on a block early in the game. There were other missed assignments.
"Tripping and falling, and little tiny s***," Wright said. "Just dumb stuff … First down, we were behind the sticks a little bit."
It wasn’t just Wright, either.
The Bears’ top three receivers – Olamide Zaccheaus, DJ Moore and Rome Odunze – combined to get 18 targets in the game. The trio combined for just seven receptions. Six of those went to Odunze, who had a team-high 10 targets as well.
The offense just never truly put itself together until the final five minutes of the game. All’s well that ends well, but the Bears can’t afford these types of games in the coming weeks. Their remaining strength of schedule is the hardest in the NFL, according to Tankathon.com.
Johnson knows this, too. The players understand it with frustration in their minds.
"We just kept just kept hammering away," Wright said. "That's all you can do. At some point, we would have a breakthrough. And luckily, we did."
The young players keep making plays
With the Bears’ top receivers struggling to catch the football, the Bears still had a chance to go down the field and win the game.
In that moment, a second-and-two play at the Giants’ 46-yard line right before the two-minute warning, they trusted their rookie. Luther Burden III came down with a 27-yard reception to set the Bears up at the Giants’ 19.
Burden wrestled through an arm tackle and created enough momentum for the Bears to punch in the game-winning score.
"I tried scoring it," Burden said. "Every time I get the ball, I'm trying to score."
That’s paid off for most of the season, too.
Burden has been targeted 15 times as a rookie. He’s hauled in 13 of those passes. This includes the touchdown flea flicker against Dallas.
Colston Loveland had four catches on four targets, too. Of his 25 targets, Loveland has only missed eight of them. His six catches helped the Bears win in Cincinnati. His four on Sunday helped the Bears win again.
The young players earned the trust of their young quarterback, too. Burden, even more so, who is seemingly coming through every time the Bears throw him the ball.
"I had full belief," Williams said. "(I) just felt confident in that moment and I felt confident in him. He ran a great route, made a great catch and got a few yards after."
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