After watching tape of Sunday's dramatic 24-20 comeback win over the Giants, Bears coach Ben Johnson spoke to reporters about three things that stood out to him:
(1) Reiterating what he said after the game, Johnson marveled at Caleb Williams' ability to escape from pressure and produce big plays.
Giants pass rushers appeared to have the Bears quarterback dead to rights on more than one occasion and Williams somehow eluded them. He rushed for 63 yards on eight carries, including a go-ahead 17-yard touchdown with 1:47 left in the fourth quarter, while not being sacked in the game.
"What he did yesterday in terms of evading the rush, that's a rare quality for most quarterbacks," said Johnson, who compared Williams to famous escape artist Harry Houdini Sunday night. "I don't know many others in the league that could've done it to the extent that he did yesterday."
Johnson told reporters that it's a balancing act for Williams to know when to take off and run versus when to remain in the pocket for an extra tick before throwing the ball. Nevertheless, he has already established himself as an elite scrambler, leading all NFL quarterbacks with 26 missed tackles forced this season, according to Pro Football Focus.
"There are times that we do need to use our legs," Johnson said. "It makes us a more dangerous offense overall. You can talk to [defensive coordinator] Dennis Allen about it. Nothing strikes fear in his heart a little bit than a quarterback that's able to take off. You can have everything else accounted for, you could feel pretty good about your pass rush, and yet if there's an open lane—which there tends to be when you have a four-man or even a five-man rush—the quarterback can still make it hurt with his feet. It's something that we certainly want to utilize. It's not something that we want to necessarily feature each and every week, but when the opportunity presents itself, we have the ability to capitalize on it."
(2) Johnson revealed that some aspects of his vision for the Bears when he became coach have come to fruition, while others remain a work in progress.
"We want a team that will fight for all 60 minutes," he said. "It's a group that believes in what we're doing as a coaching staff. They believe in what we have in the locker room. And that belief comes through each and every week right now. They understand that we're always in these games, and so we have a very resilient group. That's step No 1. And then where we've got to be better, we've got to start taking control of these games a little bit more. We've got to play cleaner football."
The Bears did play cleaner football in some areas in Sunday's win. They drew a season-low three penalties and excelled in the red zone on both sides of the ball, scoring touchdowns on 3 of 4 possessions inside-the-20 while allowing the Giants to get into the end zone on just 1 of 4 drives. However, Johnson lamented multiple dropped passes and the offense converting only 1 of 4 fourth-down opportunities.
"We still haven't put that whole collective 60 minutes, three phases together yet," he said. "We've seen glimpses of it throughout the season. I'm happy with the fact that we're winning games and we're finding the ways to win games, and the guys are believing in what we're doing. And yet we still have so far that we can still go and how much we can still accomplish as a whole team."
Johnson told reporters that the best thing about the Bears winning games of late is "we can come back and we can coach them hard."
"We'll tell them the truth and they know it," he said. "They're professionals. They all know that we're winning, but yet this isn't necessarily the style or the fashion that we want to hang our hat on long term.
"I think we're in a really good spot with our locker room right now. Our coaching staff is doing a tremendous job. I've got a lot of confidence in all three phases and how we're coaching the game right now. It's games like this that you can come in the next day or on Wednesday and coach them and be really truthful with what you're seeing and what we need to improve on."
(3) Johnson liked what he saw from three top-10 draft picks on one critical play that sustained a key fourth-quarter drive.
With the Bears trailing 20-10 and facing third-and-10 from their own 26, Williams spun away from a pass rusher, scrambled to his left and fired over the middle to tight end Colston Loveland, who reached back behind him to snare the ball for a 20-yard gain. During the play, right tackle Darnell Wright shoved Giants pass rusher Brian Burns—who entered the game leading the NFL in sacks—to the ground.
"It's just a great instance of how strong [Wright] is as an individual," Johnson said. "He caught Burns in a spin and was able to capitalize on it, so that was great. With Colston, you talk about a heater coming at him. Caleb running to his left and absolutely flings the ball, and Colston was able to haul it in. It was a huge play in the moment and certainly one we needed to keep that drive going."
Wright's block was the latest to go viral. A week earlier in a win over the Bengals, he was lauded online after he shoved defensive end Shemar Stewart back five yards and then planted him in the ground, allowing running back Kyle Monangai to pick up a first down on fourth-and-1. In the same game, left tackle Theo Benedet drove safety Geno Stone completely off the playing field with a ferocious block, exhibiting what NFL analyst and former offensive lineman Brian Baldinger described as "a pitbull mentality."
"We certainly have a great appreciation for what those [offensive linemen] bring to the table," Johnson said. "We've invested a lot from a draft capital and a free agency standpoint of bringing those guys in. We value those guys tremendously, and so it's good to see that that pay off for us. They are a huge part of what we do. Our offense doesn't really go unless they're functioning at a high level. We're really happy with where they are.
"I was proud to show a few clips last week of them in the running game, getting after it and finishing. What gets me fired up more than anything, on our first touchdown of the game yesterday (Monangai's 8-yard run), when you hit pause, you have all of these blue jerseys in the same frame and we're all pushing in the same direction. That, to me, is inspiring football."
