Ben Johnson breaks down final play that beat Packers

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 2 hours ago

CHICAGO - Both times the Chicago Bears have faced the Green Bay Packers this season, it has come down to the final play - a pass from quarterback Caleb Williams in the endzone. The first time, it was a game-sealing interception.

But the second, it was a spectacular 44-yard touchdown grab by wide receiver DJ Moore.

“That was one that we put in, and we ran in practice on Thursday, and it almost looked identical to that. I thought Caleb threw a dime in practice and DJ came down with it and we’re hopeful that it may or may not be there, but we timed that one up right. DJ ran a great route and Caleb threw him a great ball,” head coach Ben Johnson said. “But, I think it’s also a testament to our preparation over the course of the week. I think the coaches do a great job coming up with good ideas to put our guys in good spots, and then when you go out, and you execute it on the practice field, it does become gameday reality for us.”

Williams has grown tremendously under Johnson this season. For the third time this season, Williams went the entire game without getting sacked; that did not happen at all his rookie season. He only has six interceptions this season and has been nearly impossible to bring down when he runs outside the pocket.

He understood what the Bears needed from him against Green Bay, and he got it done, leading Chicago to their first victory over the Packers in Soldier Field since 2018.

“He always makes plays when needed. He’s clutch like that. We’ll go back and we’ll look at anything that we could have done better over the course of the game, but I thought he always keeps a level head,” Johnson said. “He understands the situation so, so well. We’re down by two scores and we got to score as fast as we can here, got it, and he’s all over it, trying to work as quickly as we can and I think he gets better every single week. (I) think that’s something we keep talking about and I really do think he is playing some of his best football right now of the year.”

In the four games Williams has played against the Packers, he has beaten them twice - once in Lambeau and once in Soldier Field. The last Bears quarterback to accomplish this feat was Jay Cutler, who beat the Packers in Soldier Field in 2010 and in Lambeau Field in 2015. Those were Cutler’s only career wins against Green Bay.

Simply put, Williams is playing the best against the Packers out of any Bears quarterback has in the past 15 seasons.

Given how big this rivalry is, this is quite promising for Chicago, especially with Johnson at the helm.

“This has always been a big one. It’s my first two games obviously with it, but it means a lot to the people in the organization,” Johnson said. “It means a lot to the city of Chicago and it came down to the wire really in both the games. So, it’s going to be an exciting future.”

There are always points of improvement after every game. For Chicago, penalties were definitely one of them. The Bears had 10 penalties for over 100 yards against Green Bay, including multiple 15-yard penalties.

This has been a problem at other points throughout the season, and the Bears need to get it in check for the playoffs.

“We had a couple of those 15-yard variety that I thought we could have done a better job just making sure we didn’t commit those and that would have helped us a long way, especially with the weather being the way it was,” Johnson said. “Every yard mattered in a game like this.”