With four games left in the regular season, the Chicago Bears are staring down a stretch that includes three matchups against playoff-caliber opponents. But before the pressure really ramps up, they’ve got a golden opportunity this Sunday - a home game against a Cleveland Browns team that’s 3-10 and riddled with injuries.
On paper, this is a game the Bears should control. But Mother Nature might have other plans.
The forecast is calling for a high of just 11 degrees, with wind chills potentially dipping to -10. That’s not just cold - that’s historic cold, even by Soldier Field standards.
It could end up being one of the chilliest games ever played on the lakefront. And for head coach Ben Johnson, it’s a new kind of challenge.
Johnson’s coaching career has largely unfolded in warmer climates. He cut his teeth in sun-drenched Miami and then moved to the climate-controlled dome of Detroit.
So this stretch of games - especially Sunday’s - will be his first real test in classic “Bear Weather.” But to his credit, he’s not shying away from it.
In fact, he’s leaning in.
Instead of retreating indoors to the warmth of the Walter Payton Center - a move past Bears regimes often made - Johnson has kept his team practicing outside all week. It’s a simple approach, but one that shows a deeper understanding of what it takes to win in December in Chicago.
“Been outside. Love it.
It’s Bear Weather. It’s coming down.
I know our guys are excited about it. We can’t wait to get out there and be back home,” Johnson said earlier this week.
That mindset is already rubbing off on the players. DJ Moore and rookie Rome Odunze have embraced the cold, showing energy and chemistry during outdoor sessions. And wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El has been out there slinging passes with some serious heat - literally and figuratively - keeping the intensity high despite the conditions.
This isn’t just a shift in practice logistics - it’s a cultural reset.
Dating back to the Marc Trestman era, the Bears often prioritized clean execution in practice over environmental realism. That meant moving things indoors whenever the weather got rough.
Matt Nagy followed the same blueprint. The thinking was understandable: it’s easier to run crisp practices without snow, wind, or freezing temperatures.
But come game day in December, that approach often left the team unprepared for the elements.
Ben Johnson isn’t making that mistake.
Despite being an offensive-minded coach - a label that often comes with a reputation for fastidious control over conditions - Johnson is showing a different side. He understands that if you want your team to play tough, physical, cold-weather football, you have to train for it.
You can’t simulate 11-degree wind chills indoors. You can’t teach your linemen to dig in and drive block through frozen turf unless they’ve felt it beneath their cleats.
You can’t expect receivers to track a ball in swirling wind unless they’ve done it all week.
This is about more than acclimating to the cold. It’s about forging a mindset.
The Bears have talked all season about wanting to start faster and play with a more physical edge. That kind of identity doesn’t just show up on Sundays - it’s built Monday through Saturday.
Practicing outside in brutal conditions sends a message: we don’t fear the cold, we embrace it. We’re not looking for excuses, we’re looking for edges.
It’s a philosophy that echoes what made the Patriots so formidable during their dynasty years. Bill Belichick never let his team hide from the weather - they practiced in it, lived in it, and thrived in it. Now, Ben Johnson is borrowing that same page from the playbook.
And for a team trying to re-establish its identity, that’s a good sign. Because if the Bears want to be a team that plays deep into January - not just this year, but in the years to come - they’ll need to be one that doesn’t just survive the cold, but thrives in it.
Sunday’s forecast may be brutal. But if the Bears are truly buying into this new mentality, that’s exactly how they want it.