A blast from the Bears' dreadful past signals the dawn of a new era under Ben Johnson
Oh, what a difference Ben Johnson makes.
When Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson weaved through a discombobulated Bears' defense for a 48-yard touchdown on the final play of the first half Thursday night at Soldier Field, the disappointment was palpable. Instead of cruising into halftime on a high with a 20-7 lead after Caleb Williams' 24-yard touchdown pass to Luther Burden with 14 seconds left in the second quarter, the stunned Bears headed to the locker room on tilt after an embarrassing lapse that was reminiscent of the worst follies of the Matt Eberflus era.
And that in itself is a reminder of how much worse it could be and how much better off the Bears are in the Ben Johnson Era. Despite the incredible end-of-half implosion, the Bears still had the lead against a team that went to the Super Bowl last season. It was much more devastating when a similar play occurred under Eberflus in 2024 — the infamous "Hail Emari" against the Cardinals, when the Bears' defense allowed a 53-yard touchdown run by Cardinals back-up running back Emari Demercado with four seconds left in the first half.
I still consider that as big of a red flag of the Eberflus era as the Hail Mary against the Commanders or Eberflus' brain-freeze in the final 36 seconds against the Lions that led to him being fired the next day. Coming off that devastating Hail Mary loss the previous week, Demercado's touchdown was a telling mental breakdown by a team that had vowed to make amends and show its character. It came after Cairo Santos had kicked a 53-yard field goal — the longest of his career until Thursday night — to cut the Bears' deficit to 14-9. And the Bears were getting the second-half kickoff.
Instead, they trailed 21-9 and indeed showed what they were made of with a listless performance second half. The Bears gained just 75 yards on 32 plays and were shut out in the final two quarters of a dreadful 29-9 loss. A Bears team with eight (!) captains could not stop the floodgates of an unprecedented demise. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired after 19-3 loss to the Patriots the following week. Eberflus was fired after the 23-20 loss to the Lions three weeks after that on Thanksgiving Day. The Bears ended up losing 10 consecutive games before finishing the season with a 24-22 victory over the Packers at Lambeau Field that soothed only shell-shocked Bears players and the most meatball of Bears fans.
Fast forward to Thursday night, when a pair of Eberflus-era breakdowns had a much different outcome. After Stevenson's 48-yard touchdown to end the half, the Bears responded much differently than they did under Eberflus in Glendale — with a focused, methodical (5 minutes, 19 seconds) nine-play, 72-yard touchdown drive to open the third quarter, capped by Williams' 12-yard scoring pass to tight end Colston Loveland for a 27-14 lead.
It was the first time in seven games this season the Bears had scored on their opening drive of the second half (two punts, two fumbles lost, a field goal and missed field goal). And, unless you think Johnson just handed out orange slices at halftime, yet another indication that this team responds to Ben Johnson.
The Bears had just one negative play in the drive — a hold on center Garrett Bradbury that was quickly erased by Williams passes of six and 22 yards to Loveland. Williams not only was 5-of-5 for 58 yards on the drive, but more importantly scrambled for gains of five yards (on third-and-2) and nine yards without incident — his first intentional/meaningful rushes since recovering from a hamstring injury.
And in the fourth quarter with the Bears protecting a 27-21 lead, Johnson's decision to have Williams drop back on third-and-five from the Patriots 30-yard-line blew up in his face when Williams was sacked for a 10-yard loss that presumably took the Bears out of field goal range — or at least Santos' field goal range. His longest career field goal still was that 53-yarder against the Cardinals in 2022 and his 53-yard kick on the Bears' previous possession missed when it hit the right upright.
But when a punt seemed to be in order, Johnson made a bold move by reconsidering and giving Santos a shot from 58 yards. It seemed like Johnson was following one misplay with another — a field-goal miss would have given the Patriots possession at their 48 with 1:34 seconds left. But Santos rewarded Johnson's confidence by nailing the 58-yarder with room to spare to give the Bears a 30-21 lead and all but clinch the game.
Perhaps it was just coincidence that Santos kicked his career-long field goal in that moment. More than likely, it's another example of a Ben Johnson strength — besides being masterful at game-planning and play-calling, he also manages people and players well. His well-timed faith in Santos — a rock-solid kicker in clutch moments from inside of 50 yards — in a big moment immediately after a consequential miss likely was a factor in Santos coming through.
Johnson has a great temperament for his job. He has a temper that impacts his players but doesn't cloud his judgment. He has his breaking point (like with left tackle Braxton Jones), but it's a measured one that makes him less prone to reactionary decisions when a player fails — like Rome Odunze dropping a touchdown pass and committing a pass interference penalty on the same play in the first quarter.
With Cole Kmet out for the season after suffering a knee injury Thursday night, Johnson's faith in struggling rookie tight end Sam Roush could be rewarded. Somehow, it's likely that Johnson will find a way to make up for that significant loss. He's not immune to bad luck or bad decisions. He just has a better way of dealing with all of it. Already, Williams' injury seems to have made him a better quarterback. And against the Patriots, a couple of events that used to spell doom for the Bears, ended in success. It's not by accident.
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