Ben Johnson's creativity was on full display Sunday in Cincinnati.

The Bears coach called multiple trick plays that helped his team not only register a thrilling 47-42 win over the Bengals, but earn a spot in the NFL record books.

The most significant gadget play came with the Bears facing fourth-and-goal from the 2 on their first possession of the game. Quarterback Caleb Williams took the snap, flipped the ball to receiver Rome Odunze, who pitched it to receiver DJ Moore, who tossed it to Williams for a touchdown.

"We call it 'hot potato,'" Williams said. "It looks like you're 'hot-potato-ing' the ball around. One to Rome Odunze, one to DJ, then back to me. It was something we've been practicing for the last two weeks, and it finally showed up on game day."

Williams was wide open in the end zone.

"In man coverage, there's not a defender assigned to the quarterback," Johnson said. "So that can be a good play if you get the right coverage."

The TD was a full circle moment for the Bears. While it was reminiscent of the "Philly Special," a play the Eagles ran for a touchdown in their Super Bowl LII win over the Patriots Feb. 4, 2018, Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson later revealed that the play came from the Bears in their 2016 season finale.

In that game against the Vikings, running back Jeremy Langford took the direct snap and handed off to receiver Cameron Meredith, who then tossed a 2-yard TD pass to quarterback Matt Barkley. Coincidentally, the Bears TD and the Philly Special both took place in the same end zone in the same stadium in Minneapolis.

Moore's TD pass to Williams was the second trick play the Bears ran on their initial possession in Cincinnati. On first-and-10 from their own 41, tight end Cole Kmet went in motion and then took the direct snap, pitched the ball to Williams, who then threw an overhand lateral back to Kmet, who completed an apparent 14-yard pass to Odunze. But the Bengals challenged the call, and it was overturned to an incomplete pass.

The third trick play Sunday came early in the fourth quarter with the Bears leading 31-27. Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent lined up wide right and caught an overhand lateral from Williams. Bagent then threw back across the field to Williams, who gained 20 yards while running behind center Drew Dalman and left guard Joe Thuney.

The play was called after the Bears defense had generated the game's first takeaway on Austin Booker's strip sack of Joe Flacco.

"I believe that was off the turnover, so we had a little momentum," Johnson said. "I was looking to piggyback on that. It's just one of those gadgets where you're throwing it out wide, trying to get some young players on their defense to potentially have bad eyes. We had the ability to throw that ball down the field. They covered it well down there. But then we were able to throw it back across."

After the game, Bears players lauded Johnson for his creativity and willingness to call trick plays.

"Coach Johnson, he loves those," said tight end Colston Loveland. "We run them in practice. They need to be perfect, and we need to execute them or they're getting thrown right out. We like having those cool plays in. A couple got called off the sheet pretty early. That was cool to see. I'm a big fan of those."

The trick plays enabled the Bears to make NFL history. They became the first team to have a player with at least three TD passes (Williams), another with at least one TD pass and one TD rush (Moore) and a third with at least 150 rushing yards (Kyle Monangai) in a game.

Williams became the first player in NFL history with at least 275 passing yards, 50 rushing yards and 20 receiving yards in a game. He also became the first Bears quarterback to throw multiple TD passes and have a TD reception in a game since Jim McMahon in a 1985 win over Washington at Soldier Field.

In addition, Moore became the first Bears receiver with a passing TD and rushing TD in a game since at least 1960.

"We've got playmakers all over the offense, so we can do things like that because of the skill sets everybody has," Monangai said. "I love it, personally. Sometimes it starts with us messing around, but then it can turn into, 'Oh, that would work.' He's willing to call those things. So if he's going to call it, we're going to go do it."