Ben Johnson’s message to the team after gritty Week 9 win is exactly what the Bears needed to hear going into the bye week
The Chicago Bears pulled off an improbable win on Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after backing themselves into a corner. The resilience the team showed was great, even if the overall play was far from it.
The Chicago Bears pulled off a gritty win on Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game that easily could have been lost.
In fact, every team in the NFL had lost such a game given the situation the Bears were in. According to OptaSTATS, the Bears were the first team in the NFL to win a game despite the following factors going into it.
- Have 5+ turnovers
- Have 9+ penalties
- Have no 10+ yard rushes
- Blow a 14+ point lead
The fact the Bears still managed to win that game was a major sign of resiliency this team has in their DNA. At the same time, no one should be pleased with the overall performance from Sunday’s game. That’s not what winning football should look like, much less championship-caliber football. And that’s the message head coach Ben Johnson was sending to his team after the game.
Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson was not pleased following Week 9 win
“They know that we didn’t play as well as we’re capable of playing,” Johnson told reporters after the game. “But I believe the best is yet to come in terms of our football in the back half of this season. We’ll continue to build that as we go forward.”
This is the exact mindset the Bears need to have after this kind of win. There should be minimal celebration in the locker room. Everyone should be upset with the way that game went despite the final result on the scoreboard. And for the most part they were.
You might be saying ‘A win is a win, they should celebrate being 7-2 on the season’ and while I agree with you there, this was not up to the standard this team is capable of playing at. This team wants to be great, not good enough. While it was great to see the Bears come out on top at the end, the main takeaway from this game should be focusing on the bad, not the good.
And a win like this came at the best time. The Bears are finally heading into the bye week after three straight primetime games. This team is drained and needs a break. Most importantly, they need an extended one to reflect on some of the mistakes made over the first nine weeks and find improvements.
“They need some rest right now. That’s what they need,” Johnson added. “They need to get away from these coaches. We’ll clean up some things over the next couple of days and get them free from us for a little bit.”
Offensive response was a major positive, as was the defensive play throughout
The Bears started off this game with a quick 14-0 run. It seemed like this game was headed for a sure-fire blowout at Soldier Field. Then came four interceptions by quarterback Caleb Williams and and four punts by the offense. The unit was spinning in its tracks. If this game happened last year, the Bears would have been dead to rights.
Instead, Chicago’s revamped defense bowed up despite getting thrown back onto the field. The Bears held the Buccaneers to 2/12 on third down while recording two takeaways, including Jaylon Johnson’s 67-yard pick-six.
“I think that was really the story of the game was those guys stepping up and it was all the way up until that last one that they finally broke through and scored the touchdown. But for the four previous ones, I thought our defense did an outstanding job rising the occasion,” Johnson said. “They don’t bat an eye, they don’t blink. That’s certainly what (Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen) preaches on that side of the ball, but I think those guys take a lot of pride in that as well. And we needed that tonight.”
It was a much-needed game from that side of the ball and shows that when the offense struggles, the defense has the ability this year to bail them out. And yet, when it came down to the final play to win it, the offense didn’t bat an eye either. Williams led the unit on an eight-play drive that ate up the final seconds of the clock to walk away with a game-winning field goal as time expired.
“Despite the displeasure I might be presenting right now, there’s a lot of good in terms of building this team that comes from a win like this. Like I said, one, it’s hard to win under those circumstances,” Johnson explained. “We really haven’t been in that situation in the fourth quarter with little time left, needing a field goal, touchdown, whatever it is. It just hasn’t happened a whole lot this year. And yet I feel like our guys, we are prepped for that and we’re ready for it. That’s what I know now after going through that. I felt as calm calling plays on that drive as I had all game long. I think we thrive in those situations. It’s good to see that was the case here.”
It was a championship mentality that rose in the face of adversity, on all three sides of the ball. While it wasn’t an impressive game this team is capable of, it was an impressive win that tells everything about the kind of team this is. Now, the Bears get a much-needed break to rest, refocus, and get back to playing at their best.
