Ben Johnson reflects on his first win as Bears head coach

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 3 hours ago

CHICAGO - Ben Johnson’s first win as an NFL head coach in dominant fashion as the Chicago Bears defeated the Dallas Cowboys 31-14.

Quarterback Caleb Williams threw four touchdown passes, tying his career high, while the Chicago defense generated four turnovers.

“Our points of emphasis going into the week were playing great situational football and I’m talking about third down, red zone and two-minute and I thought they really answered that bell,” Johnson said. “I thought we were statistically better than that team in all three of those areas and that was (a) good formula for us to come out on top here this week and so, (I) thought a number of guys played really outstanding football.”

Chicago was significantly better on third down than Dallas. While the Bears converted on eight of their 14 third-down attempts, the Cowboys only managed three conversions on 11 third-down attempts. Furthermore, Dallas only scored one touchdown the entire game. Given this is a team that put up 40 points the previous week, this was quite the impressive feat by the Chicago defense.

Perhaps the player who stood out the most on defense was linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

Edmunds finished the game with 15 total tackles, tying for his most ever while playing with the Bears. He also had his first career multi-interception game with two picks in this game.

“And then defensively, once again, a number of guys stood out to us. But, Tremaine got the other game ball,” Johnson said. “He was all over the field. (15) tackles, two interceptions, and really came through for us in a big way.”

Offensively, Williams probably had the best game of his career in this matchup. He spread the ball around, throwing a touchdown to four different players, had a quarterback rating of 142.6, which is by far a career high for him, and finally had his first career game without getting sacked.

Some of the little things were also improved for Williams, such as getting out of the huddle faster and seeing some of the downfield opportunities.

(One) of the game balls went to Caleb. I’m looking at his numbers, 142.6 passer rating and four touchdowns. I thought he was really good and the thing that you don’t see on the stat sheet is he’s getting a lot more comfortable calling those plays in the huddle,” Johnson said. “We were able to get out of the huddle a little bit faster and we were able to get on the line and operate a little bit cleaner as well. So, was proud of him for that.”

Between Chicago getting their first win and the Green Bay Packers losing in stunning fashion to the Cleveland Browns, the Bears are now just one game back from being tied for first in the division. For a team that struggled as Chicago did in the first two games, especially against the Detroit Lions, this is a remarkable position to be in. However, this dominant win against Dallas also showcases the resilience of the Ben Johnson-led team.

The Bears had glaring issues against Detroit, and while still operating without their top two players in the secondary, these issues were actually addressed.

“The first two weeks have not gone the way we wanted to and it’s early,” Johnson said. “But, we got to get the issues fixed and I thought that guys were committed to that here this week and we had a good week of preparation and they came out and played inspired football (Sunday) and so, good things happen when you’re playing hard, you’re playing physical and you’re playing for the guy next to you and I thought that’s what happened here (Sunday).”

Johnson and the Bears will seek their first road win of the season on Sunday. Sept. 28 (3:25 p.m. / CBS) when they take on the Las Vegas Raiders. Both teams enter this game with a 1-2 record.

However, while Chicago will be coming off their 17-point victory, Las Vegas is coming off a 17-point loss against the Washington Commanders.