After watching tape of Sunday's 26-14 win over the Saints, Bears coach Ben Johnson on Monday spoke to reporters about four things that stood out to him:
(1) Johnson was pleased with the physicality the Bears demonstrated in all three phases, most notably running the ball and stopping the run.
The Bears outrushed the Saints 222-44. Running backs D'Andre Swift (19-124-1) and Kyle Monangai (13-81-1) combined for 205 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries, while the defense held Saints running back Alvin Kamara to 28 yards on six attempts with a long run of six yards.
"Felt like that might have been the most physical game that we've played so far this year from our perspective," Johnson said. "I thought our guys came out and they played hard. You could certainly hear it and feel it on the sideline throughout that game. I thought it was evident there in the ground game statistics."
The physicality is a key part of the culture that Johnson is implementing.
"We're slowly growing closer to what that vision is and what we want to be about," he said. "We talk about it all the time, but it's slowly starting to take shape. Our defense, the fundamentals stood out to more me, striking blocks. We had better tackling in the open field than what we had the previous few games. We're making tremendous strides there.
"Our DBs, they're hitting violently. You could feel that pressuring a little bit. We had a few more safety and nickel pressures this past week than maybe what we had done previously. You could feel that and just how they were hitting, whether it's running backs or even the quarterback. That showed up, and then when you have the runners on offense playing with their pads low and running through the hole like they were, I think it just sparks everyone else."
(2) Johnson liked how the Bears responded to adversity.
After the Bears cruised to a 20-0 second-quarter lead, the Saints scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives bridging the second and third quarters to cut the deficit to 20-14. But the offense responded with an 8-play, 66-yard drive that resulted in Jake Moody's 24-yard field goal and gave the Bears a two-score lead. The defense did its part by holding the Saints scoreless over the game's final 24:40.
"The thing I'm most proud about was not only did we get off to a good start in terms of the 20-0 lead, but we weathered the storm in between because it wasn't our best middle eight [minutes] of the game," Johnson said. "You go from 20-0 to all of a sudden you're looking up after halftime and it's 20-14."
After the Saints' second touchdown, the Bears picked up first downs on each of their next four plays. Caleb Williams completed passes of 11 yards to DJ Moore and 22 yards to Luther Burden III. Swift followed with runs of 17 and 15 yards.
It was a much better response than what transpired in the season opener when the Bears were outscored 21-7 in the fourth quarter in a 27-24 loss to the Vikings.
"I just think back to that first week of the season against Minnesota and how we didn't handle that very well," Johnson said. "You fast forward a few weeks later here and I just thought as a team we responded a lot better to not make it a game there necessarily in the final minutes of the fourth quarter; to close it out before that. It was good to see that. Proud of the guys. Proud of how they played."
(3) Johnson was thrilled that the defense generated four more takeaways Sunday.
The Bears now lead the league with 16 takeaways, 15 of which have come during their current four-game winning streak.
"Our defense is doing a phenomenal job of knowing where that ball is," Johnson said. "When you make it a point of emphasis, normally good things happen. They're doing a great job with it."
History indicates that the Bears likely won't continue to average three or four takeaways a game, but Johnson isn't concerned.
"If there's a point where we're not getting as many takeaways, I know another phase of our defense or offense or special teams will find a way to come through for us," he said.
(4) One of Johnson's favorite plays in Sunday's win was when virtually the entire offensive unit tried to shove Monangai into the end zone.
On first-and-goal from the 6 late in the first half, Monangai took a handoff up the middle. He plowed into the line and kept his feet moving. Left tackle Theo Benedet, center Drew Dalman and receivers Rome Odunze and Olamide Zaccheaus joined the mass of humanity pushing Monangai forward.
Although all the players eventually tumbled into the end zone, officials ruled that Monangai's forward progress had stopped at the 1. On the next play, the rookie running back powered into the end zone for his first NFL touchdown.
"I love that," Johnson said of the team effort. "I want to see that on every single run play. The more population we can have with the football, the better off we're going to be. I love to see our perimeter players getting involved, getting scrappy, blocking their safeties, blocking their corners. I love to see our linemen finish around our running back and protecting him and pushing him forward like that. We need more of that."
