Bear Digest

Five defining moments from Bears' turnaround under Ben Johnson

The Bears' coach described a key moment for coaches after losing to Detroit and its importance but there were critical moments in games that made 11-5 possible.
Gene Chamberlain|
Nahshon Wriht celebrates after his "Peanut Punch" trumped the "tush push" of Jalen Hurts and the Eagles.
Nahshon Wriht celebrates after his "Peanut Punch" trumped the "tush push" of Jalen Hurts and the Eagles. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears reach the end of the 17-game season Sunday and their reversal from 5-12 to 11-5 and possibly 12-5 is one with several key points.

It was at these junctures where they could have taken a turn for the worse for various reasons.

Ben Johnson found the way they responded at practice after the 52-21 loss in Week 2 to Detroit as a huge turning point. If it was, it was a coaching turning point and one in the locker room, but not one in a game. They came back to beat Dallas convincingly 31-14 for their first win under Johnson in Week 3.

“I think the message after that game was how much we as a coaching staff believed in the guys in that room," Johnson said. "It's one thing to say that, particularly after a game like that where you feel a little bit of despair potentially, but I think the coaching staff, we felt that way though. We felt strongly about those guys.

"We see them go to work through the springtime and all of camp. We knew it was a talented bunch and it doesn't take a whole lot to get a few things corrected and turn this ship the other way. That's what they did. It's a credit to all of them to do what we did in terms of, I think at one point we won nine out of 10 games. That's pretty good."

They went from that point to NFC North champions but it was hardly a linear improvement or leap to dominance.

Several more actual turning points on the field occurred. Here were the top five defining moments ranked from the run to 11-5 by the 2025 Bears, but if people are being honest the defining moment happened when George McCaskey coughed up the big dollars to sign Ben Johnson as coach.

5. Blackwell block

Johnson's team had their first win the previous week but hadn't done what any good team must do and that's beat a weaker teams on the road, but more importantly find a way to come back when all seemed lost. Josh Blackwell came hard off the edge and blocked Daniel Carlson's 54-yard field goal try in the closing seconds for a 25-24 Bears win. Last-second victories and comebacks became the MO for this team after this one happened.

4. In Aikman's face

Troy Aikman was calling Caleb Williams and the Bears offense sloppy orr lucky, and at this juncture of the game and season nothing looked clear or positive. The Bears had gone 2-2 in their first four games before the bye but had struggled to run the ball.

The Commanders had just gone up 24-16 on a Jayden Daniels touchdown pass to Zach Ertz and it seemed like there would be no revenge for the Hail Mary pass of 2024.

On third-and-4 from their own 45, Williams didn't see his primary targets open, flipped it outside along the sidelines on a short dumpoff to D'Andre Swift and he took it the distance. The Bears had fought back within two, even though they missed the two-point conversion.

They were in position to rally for the winning drive using mostly the run after Daniels fumbled away the ball with 3:10 left at the Bears' 44. They won it on a 38-yard field goal by backup kicker Jake Moody.

There were other comebacks along the way, like when they blew the lead against Minnesota but pulled out the win thanks to Cairo Santos 48-yard field goal after Devin Duvernay's 56-yard kick return, or Caleb Williams' two TD runs to overtake the Giants. Howver, the significance of getting this miracle comeback win over a team that ruined their 2024 season with on play is too big.

3. Push this

The Bears led the Eagles on the road as they showed they had what it takes to stand up to a strong, experienced team after questions about some of their earlier competition. Williams threw a rare interception to Jalyx Hunt and after three plays the Eagles were facing fourth-and-1 at the Bears 12.

The tush push was coming and everyone knew it, including Nahshon Wright. He snuck in around the edge and knocked the ball out of Jalen Hurts' hands and Tremaine Edmunds recovered. The Bears dominated the rest of the game with their offense and won easily 24-15, leading 24-9 halfway through the fourth quarter.

2. Moore's moment

In a season when it often seemed DJ Moore was neglected in the offense, he delivered the overtime 46-yard TD catch in the end zone against Keisean Nixon's tight coverage for the win over Green Bay that made the division title possible and finally halted the Packers' mastery of the Bears at Soldier Field. It only took another miracle from Josh Blackwell with an onside kick recovery, and also another TD to Jahdae Walker to make Moore’s catch possible.

1. Miracle on the Ohio

The Bears had played one of their poorest games in losing to Baltimore and wound up in a shootout against Joe Flacco and Cincinnati. They blew the onside kick the way the Packers did later in the year, quickly gave up the go-ahead touchdown and suddenly needed a miracle to avoid two straight losses. Then, a bolt of lightning, with Colston Loveland bouncing off the tackle and spinning into the clear for the 58-yard winning touchdown with 17 seconds remaining. It let the Bears avoid a second two-game losing streak and also started them on the five-game winning streak that made their division title possible.

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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.