Ben Johnson may not have gotten a clean, easy Thursday night win out of his Bears, but he may have learned something even better from the 30-24 victory over the New England Patriots.
Chicago didn’t cruise. The Bears had to sweat it out, and for stretches it looked like another promising performance might slide off the rails. Still, they held on, and that finish may tell Johnson more about his team than the final score ever could.
Two weeks earlier, the Bears were overwhelmed in a 31-7 loss to Green Bay, a game that raised fresh doubts about how far this group had actually come. Then against Atlanta, Chicago won 31-23 but nearly let a 24-point fourth-quarter lead get messy in a hurry. Thursday offered another test of whether those late-game problems were becoming part of the identity.
The Patriots didn’t fold once Chicago grabbed control. They kept pushing, and the Bears were forced into situations where one misstep could have turned the whole night. Chicago wasn’t sharp enough to call it a spotless performance, but it did what it needed to do when things got uncomfortable.
That matters for a team that hasn’t consistently shown that kind of poise in recent seasons.
Johnson came to Chicago with a reputation for inventive offense, built on the work that made him one of the league’s most sought-after coaching names in Detroit. But winning in the NFL takes more than clever play design, and the Bears are starting to show it. Different parts of the roster are stepping up at different times.
Against Atlanta, Kyler Gordon’s three sacks helped secure a victory that was wobbling, while special teams forced two turnovers and the defense delivered when it mattered. On Thursday, the support came from elsewhere.
Luther Burden III scored. Colston Loveland added a touchdown.
Cairo Santos drilled a career long 58 yard field goal that provided valuable points.
And Caleb Williams didn’t have to be the one bailing out the offense on every snap.
That’s a good sign for Chicago. The Bears have put resources into helping Williams, and Johnson’s offense is supposed to make the quarterback’s job easier, not turn him into the only answer whenever things get tight. The early returns are starting to show what that can look like.
There’s still a clear issue lingering here, though: Chicago keeps inviting trouble late.
There’s a real difference between being resilient and constantly needing resilience. The Bears are living on that edge.
They almost coughed up a comfortable lead against Atlanta, and New England had its chances to make Thursday’s game far more stressful than it already was. Johnson can’t be satisfied with that.
Good teams survive mistakes. Great teams stop making the same ones.
At 5-2, the Bears have given themselves a strong spot, and they’ve done it while bouncing back from an ugly loss with consecutive wins. Williams looks more comfortable in Johnson’s offense, younger players are producing, and the team is showing it can respond when the game turns messy.
That may be the biggest takeaway of all.
Johnson can script a practice for almost anything. What he can’t duplicate is the pressure of protecting a slim lead with everything on the line. Chicago has now lived through that pressure in back-to-back weeks and come away with wins.
The Bears still have work to do, especially when it comes to closing out games. But Johnson may have uncovered something in the process that could matter more than another October victory: his players are starting to believe they can win even when they’re not at their best.
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Bears Win Felt Huge But Two Problems Should Worry Fans
The Bears got the kind of win that can steady a locker room, outlasting the Patriots 30-24 in a game that featured contributions all over the field. Kyler Gordon made his presence felt on defense with a sack and several tackles, DAndre Swift gave the offense a physical edge on the ground, and Caleb Williams was sharp enough in the fourth quarter to help close it out.
Still, the victory did not erase the stuff that can haunt a team later. Chicago was loose enough in spots to create some early frustration, and Rome Odunzes day summed up the range of emotions nicely, with one rough moment offset by a late play when the Bears needed it most. The result counts the same in the standings, but the sloppier stretches are the part the coaching staff will keep circling back to. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Williams May Have Found What The Bears Needed Most
Caleb Williams is back from the hamstring injury, and through two starts he has given the Bears something they have been searching for all season: steadiness at quarterback. He has completed 75.4 percent of his passes for 613 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, while looking more comfortable operating from the pocket and showing the kind of ball security Chicago has lacked too often.
What has stood out just as much is the way Williams has changed his game since returning. He has dialed back his running, a sensible adjustment as he works around the injury, and the result has been a cleaner, more controlled version of the offense. For a Bears team still trying to find its identity, the bigger question now is whether this more efficient approach is a short-term fix or the start of something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Win Showed Why Their Young Core Suddenly Feels Different
The Bears Week 7 win over the Patriots pushed them to 5-2, but the bigger takeaway was how many young players looked ready for the moment. Colston Loveland kept finding ways to matter, Dillon Thieneman added impact plays, and Kyler Gordon helped steady a defense that was still missing some familiar pieces. For a team that has spent plenty of time building toward this kind of depth, the victory felt like another reminder that the roster is starting to look different in a meaningful way.
Luther Burden was part of that shift too, providing one of the explosive plays that can change a game in a hurry, and the Bears got another important contribution from DMarco Jackson while he filled in for T.J. Edwards. Chicago did not just survive against New England with its established names carrying the load. It got real production from younger pieces across the lineup, which is the kind of development that can make a midseason win feel bigger than the standings suggest. [Read more 🡒]