After watching tape of Sunday's 31-28 win over the Steelers, Bears coach Ben Johnson on Monday spoke to the media about five things that stood out to him:

(1) Johnson praised an injury-depleted defense that generated two key takeaways and clinched the victory with a fourth-down stop with :17 remaining.

The takeaways came on a sensational leaping interception by Nahshon Wright in the first quarter and a Montez Sweat strip sack late in the third period shortly after the Bears had rallied to take a 24-21 lead.

The Bears played without starting linebackers Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and Noah Sewell due to injuries and then lost a fourth linebacker late in the first quarter when rookie Ruben Hyppolite II exited with a shoulder injury.

Pressed into action, reserve linebackers D'Marco Jackson and Amen Ogbongbemiga both established career highs with 15 and 14 tackles, respectively.

"We had those linebackers step to the forefront and come through for us," Johnson said. "Montez had a huge game and really impacted the outcome there.

"And then Shonny's interception was one of the most athletic plays and phenomenal catches I've seen in a long time. Not to mention, I thought what's under-sung about what Shonny is doing right now is how much he's influencing the run game as well. He's coming up, he's tackling the ballcarrier. They're throwing a bubble screen and he's knifing through the play there. He's really playing sound football, really run game and pass game included. That was good to see."

(2) Johnson was pleased with how well the Bears protected Caleb Williams against a defense that ranked third in the NFL with 33 sacks.

Williams was sacked only once—albeit on a play that resulted in a Steelers touchdown—and was hit only one other time in the game.

"Was really proud about the pass pro," Johnson said. "That's a really good unit, their front is, in terms of getting pressure on the quarterback. I thought across the board, for most of that game, our guys kept them as at bay as I had seen on tape so far this year."

Rookie second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo made his first NFL start at left tackle in place of the injured Theo Benedet, and rookie sixth-round selection Luke Newman played 22 snaps at right guard while Jonah Jackson was being treated for an eye injury.

"Credit to Ozzy for stepping up," Johnson said. "Having not played a lot of ball yet this year, he played a really solid game. I thought it was really good.

"He didn't miss a beat here. Communication was really good between him and [left guard] Joe [Thuney] … Just the full understanding of the game plan and what we're trying to get done, it's a great start for him to build on."

Asked what he feels accounts for the Bears' improved pass protection, Johnson said: "More than anything, it's probably just the gelling of those guys."

"They certainly understand the schemes that we're running at a higher level," he added. "We do try to help out sometimes with our backs or our receivers or our tight ends, whether it's presence or chips and nudges just to be as firm as we can be on the edges. But I think the communication aspect is at a high level.

"[Center] Drew Dalman leads the charge there, making sure we've got the fronts identified and we're all on the same page. That's always the starting point, and then the longer you go, the better you get at your technique as long as you're approaching each day the right way. I think that we have."

(3) Johnson credited kicker Cairo Santos and the special teams unit with helping the Bears win the field-position battle.

In the first quarter, Santos booted a knuckleball that Kenneth Gainwell tried to field on a short hop. The ball caromed off Gainwell, who was able to recover it. But he was tackled by Dominique Robinson at the 5.

Santos' next kickoff was even more impressive. It landed near the sideline at the 1 and caromed out of the side of the end zone for a touchback. Because the ball had landed at the 1 and not in the end zone, the Steelers' drive started at the 20 instead of the 35.

"Special teams stood out to me in a positive fashion there," Johnson said. "I thought HT (special teams coordinator Richard Hightower) had a great plan. Our kickoff is really starting to become a weapon for us. Cairo is doing a phenomenal job with some of these dirty kicks and it's really helping us with our field position there to start drives on defense. That was good to see."

Another player who contributed on special teams was tight end Nikola Kalinic, who made his Bears debut after being elevated from the practice squad Saturday. The second-year pro registered one tackle and one assist and forced Ke'Shawn Williams to fumble a kickoff return, but the ball bounced out of bounds.

"A guy like Niko, who had been on practice squad all year long, stepped to the forefront there and did a really nice job on special teams, so that was good," Johnson said. "He's another guy that I didn't even talk about last night, but just another example of these guys stepping up when their number is called."

(4) Johnson liked how the offense executed a designed run by Williams that picked up eight yards on fourth-and-1, extending a drive that resulted in a touchdown.

The Bears quarterback took the snap and ran around left end behind running back D'Andre Swift, whose block on safety Kyle Dugger cleared a path for Williams.

"They gave us a good look for that one," Johnson said. "I thought the O-line did a great job just making sure that they built the wall there to the inside. Really driven by the tight end (Cole Kmet). We had a six-technique, and he was able to pin him on down, so it became really a two-on-one, with 'Swifty' leading the charge there on the corner."

As Williams was about to step out of bounds, he was blasted by cornerback Jalen Ramsey, drawing the ire of the quarterback's teammates on the sideline.

"Want to get Caleb out of bounds just a little bit sooner," Johnson said. "But the crazy thing is, when things like that happen, it almost ignites your sideline even more. It was a completely legal hit; he was in-bounds. But at the same time, just to see the whole sideline come to life, I think it kind of adds another spark there to your offense and really the whole team."

(5) Johnson lauded the defense for stopping the Steelers on a tush push play.

Pittsburgh lined up in that formation on fourth-and-1 from the Bears' 30 in the second quarter. Tight end Connor Heyward took the snap and was stopped short of the line to gain. Ogbongbemiga and Wright were credited with the tackle, but penetration by the defensive line was instrumental.

"Up front, I thought it started there," Johnson said. "It's such a hard play to really talk about a whole lot because you're really crouched in that neutral zone, and it seems like there's a lot of movement right there at the snap on both sides.

"It started with [defensive tackle Andrew Billings] over top of the center. And then the rest of our guys did a nice job just stopping that charge. Huge play for us at that time."

The Steelers lined up in a tush push formation a second time late in the first half—with much different results. Heyward took the snap and handed off to Gainwell, who raced around right end for 54 yards to the Chicago 1, setting up a touchdown.

"The second one, we probably just need to be a little bit more sound in terms of knowing what the complements are off of that play," Johnson said.