Ben Johnson and Kevin Byard leave no doubt about the mindset going into Week 15 and it’s something the rest of the team needs to hear
There’s no such thing as a trap game.
The Chicago Bears have reached a pivotal point in the 2025 regular season and the team’s loss to the Green Bay Packers last Sunday has only upped the urgency going into the final four weeks of the season.
Every game from this point on is critical, it doesn’t matter what you did the first four months of the season, what you do in December is usually what really matters. Right now, the Bears are a nine-win team and knocking on the door of a potential playoff berth. But, head coach Ben Johnson made sure to immediately point out on Sunday after the loss that nine wins isn’t going to be enough.
“We have goals and we know what’s out in front of us,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s just that awareness that every game matters. Every game matters. And that’s where, this week, you go from an emotional rivalry game like we just played, this week is equally important. We need this win, we desperately need this win.”
That’s the exact kind of mindset the Bears need to have going into Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, regardless if they’re a three-win team or an 11-win team. The way this league works, you never know what to expect on gameday and need to always prepare in the best possible way. And that message has already been relayed to the leaders in the locker room.
Kevin Byard isn’t viewing Week 15 as a potential trap game against the Browns
“Some people call this a classic trap game or whatever it may be, I don’t really believe in trap games in the league,” Bears veteran Kevin Byard explained. “I think every single week you have to bring your best ball, regardless of records. This is the National Football League and every team and everybody is playing for something. Regardless of what the record is.”
To make things more important, the Browns are far from a team you need to overlook. Cleveland is playing some solid football this season, even if the record tells a different story. Johnson noted Cleveland’s defense is a Top-3 unit and considered rookie QB Shedeur Sanders a dangerous player.
And the Bears still have a lot to play for and an even more brutal stretch coming up after this game. This is absolutely a big one for Chicago this weekend in terms of keeping the train on the tracks and not all of a sudden falling off the rails, because one more loss can be extremely detrimental.
“With the NFC this year, it’s going to take 11 wins to get in,” Byard added. “With the amount of good, really talented, teams in the NFC, 10 wins I don’t think is going to get it done.”
Byard is absolutely correct and it’s great everyone from top down seems to be acknowledging that mindset. It means more coming from Byard too because he’s one of the top leaders in that locker room and it’s a message he needs to continue reinforcing to the rest of his teammates all week long.
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The Chicago Bears cannot afford to take the Cleveland Browns lightly on Sunday.
