Ben Johnson makes the case for an overlooked Bears star to finally earn league-wide respect at the perfect time
Josh Blackwell deserves his flowers for the way he’s played this season.
A lot had to go right for the Chicago Bears to pull of a miracle on Saturday night against the Green Bay Packers and some of the critical moments that turned the momentum happened to be overlooked by some of the flashy plays made at the end.
That’s not to discredit the walk-off touchdown between quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver DJ Moore in overtime, or the game-tying touchdown made by undrafted rookie wide receiver Jahdae Walker late in the fourth-quarter.
None of those moments would have been made possible if not for the onside kick recovery by the Bears to give the ball back to the offense with a chance to tie the game.
“With the onside kick, you’ve got to start with Coach (Richard) Hightower — he does a phenomenal job each week drilling that play and making sure we’re prepared,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said on Monday. “All of our guys were dialed in. They knew what they were doing. Cairo (Santos) had an excellent kick, made it very difficult on their side. I thought we executed at a really high level and blocked well [and were] able to recover it.”
The player that made the recovery was core special teamer and reserve cornerback Josh Blackwell, who’s found his role on special teams and continues to make special plays for his team on a weekly basis. After Saturday’s big play, Johnson made sure to give Blackwell his proper recognition as well.
Ben Johnson hands out high praise for Josh Blackwell and the rest of the league should too
“[We were] talking as a staff yesterday, where does Blackwell look like relative to the league? We feel like he’s one of the best special teams players in the NFL right now,” Johnson added. “Whether he gets that recognition or not publicly, I don’t know. Yet, he’s a part of our success as a team, our special teams unit as a whole, he’s really found quite a niche there.”
The 2025 calendar year has been a special one for Blackwell. It started back in Week 18 of the 2024 season when Blackwell returned a punt for a touchdown against the Packers, a critical play that helped end a disappointing season on a high note.
In March, Blackwell was rewarded with a two-year extension worth up to $6 million, a deal that made him one of the highest-paid special teamers in the league. It reinforced the confidence the coaching staff had in him and the impact he brings to the field.
Flashforward to the 2025 regular season, Blackwell continued making huge plays for his team. In Week 4 against the Las Vegas Raiders, Blackwell blocked the game-winning field goal attempt and earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career.
Blackwell’s impactful plays continued to be unnoticed to the average fan, such as this crazy effort against the Cleveland Browns in Week 15 to help down a Tory Taylor punt on the one-yard-line.
“He’s helped us win multiple games,” Hightower said, via ChicagoBears.com. “I like to call him ‘All-Pro Black’ because I want him to think that way. And to me, a Pro Bowl player or All-Pro player is someone who that affects the game in several different phases.”
Later on Tuesday, the NFL will release the 2025 Pro Bowl rosters and based on the final fan voting released on Monday, Blackwell should be well on his way to earning his first Pro Bowl nod after having the second-most votes in the league at the special teams player spot.
The league-wide recognition shouldn’t stop there. Blackwell has more than earned All-Pro honors this season and it’s great to see the coaching staff make their case for Blackwell at the perfect time.
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