Bears game-winning touchdown against Green Bay proves Ben Johnson is a mastermind

The Packers' defense took the cheese on DJ Moore's 25-yard game-winning touchdown.

Jan 10, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore (2) makes the eventual game winning touchdown catch as Green Bay Packers safety Evan Williams (33) defends during the second half of an NFC Wild Card Round game at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The Bears knocked the Packers out of the playoffs with a miraculous 31-27 come-from-behind victory in their Wild Card matchup on Saturday night. They scored three touchdowns in the final ten minutes, with the game-winner being a 25-yard strike to DJ Moore with 1:43 left.

DJ FREAKING MOORE 💫

📺: @NFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/igTC04pKXw

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 11, 2026

At first glance, it just looked like a blown coverage by Green Bay. There wasn't anyone within eight yards of Moore when he caught the ball.

It turns out, there was a specific reason why there wasn't a Packers' defender anywhere near Moore. They thought for sure the Bears were going to run another receiver bubble screen, as they found success from the same look and formation on the first drive.

The best chess match so far this year ended with an absolute checkmate from Ben Johnson pic.twitter.com/wLtNDWIuHg

— Film Watchers (@Filmwatchers1) January 11, 2026

A core philosophy of Ben Johnson's offense is his ability to 'make the same things look different, and different things look the same'. This situation was the perfect example of that.

The defense got beat for a 12-yard catch from Luther Burden III (on a third-and-eight) on the first drive of the game, and they made it a point of emphasis to shut the play down if they saw it at a later point in the game.

Ben Johnson seemingly took note of their over-aggressiveness, and he dialed up the perfect play call with the game on the line. Elite timing, scheming, and misdirection.

While Johnson deserves his flowers for the play call, the players still needed to execute. They did that with flying colors. DJ Moore and Caleb Williams both did a masterful job of selling the screen. The former actually pretended that he was blocking at first and the latter hit the defense with a quick pump fake in that direction, really selling the quick hitter.

Honestly, it probably still would've been open (at least based on evidence in the video I shared above) even without the added elements of misdirection, but it's safe to say that Moore had no one near him in part due to how well they sold it.

Who knows if the play would've had nearly as much success as it did if Luther Burden III hadn't gained 12 yards early on in the game. It seemed like nothing more than a routine first-down conversion, but it might've factored into the defense's mindset in crunch time.

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