Bear Digest

Crunch time combo giving Chicago Bears visions of long-term success

Ben Johnson being calm in pressure situations and Caleb Williams' ability to lead the Bears in the later parts of games is viewed as the ideal dynamic.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams consults with Ben Rodgers earlier this season.
Caleb Williams consults with Ben Rodgers earlier this season. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The late-game heroics by Caleb Williams with five game-winning drives is apparently a perfect wedding of quarterback and coach. At least the Bears think this is the case.

Perhaps Bears fans can get used to strong finishes for years to come with a quarterback who turns it up near the end of games with 96.4 fourth-quarter passer rating, and a coach who knows how to operate effectively at crunch time.

Williams' five fourth-quarter comeback this season are the most by any QB in Bears history during a single season, and most in the NFL this year. Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle points to Ben Johnson as being a coach made for those big moments.

"Ben has extreme confidence in what he's doing," Doyle said. "He's very comfortable in big moments. I know Caleb has been talked about that way. Ben is that way. Ben prepares for those moments and because of that, once we get there, it's not really like we're not confident in that moment.

"He very much knows what he wants, how he sees things going.  He's very clear at communicating that. If things change on the fly, he does a great job of communicating that to the staff and the players. I think that's what is a separator in those big moments. A lot of these games are won in the last two minutes and it's a huge advantage with him on our side."

Some of these wins seem to come down to more than a decision by a coach, such as blocked field goal, a fumble by Jayden Daniels and a kick return by Devin Duvernay.

Good fortune aside, Doyle says the play calling of Johnson down the stretch and his mastery of clock management have been big.

"I think he does a great job at both things," Doyle said. "Obviously as the offensive play caller, and then as the head coach managing the clock and putting our team in position to go out and have success, whether that's a last drive or that's the defense finishing and us going to a knee, in those moments, he's ready for it and he's been prepared for that."

All of this has to be satisfying for Bears fans as the calendar approaches the one-year anniversary of Matt Eberflus saving his timeout, for some reason, as the clock expired at the end of the Thanksgiving Day loss at Detroit.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.