Caleb Williams reveals most important thing Ben Johnson has changed for Chicago Bears

Under first-year head coach Ben Johnson's "vibe," the Bears are winning close games.

Ben Johnson | David Banks-Imagn Images

Ben Johnson was hired by the Chicago Bears to transform an offense, to develop a quarterback and to improve a record. Perhaps more importantly, however, he's switched something else:

Vibe.

A season ago the Bears got off to a 4-2 start and were poised for another win until - you know - the fateful "Fail Mary" in Washington. After that the team spiraled to 10 consecutive losses. Included in that ugly streak were five defeats by one score, losses by 3, 1, 3, 3 and 3 points. The 23-20 loss at the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving led to head coach Matt Eberflus' firing.

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Under Johnson, the Bears coughed up an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead in a three-point loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the opener. But since then, perfection.

They won back-to-back games by the identical, wacky score of 25-24 by blocking a Raiders' field goal and then making one in Washington. Last week in Cincinnati they avoided what would have been a devastating collapse in a thrilling victory over the Bengals. Thanks to rookie tight end Colston Loveland and quarterback Caleb Williams, who this week attributed the calm under pressure to his head coach.

“It’s just a different year, different vibe,” Williams said. “I think we’ve done a good job in some of those games; I would say that last year we didn’t do a good job in close games, tight games."

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Johnson credited the resilience of his team for being able to pull off close wins on the road that last year’s group would have lost.

“This particular team in years past would find ways to lose games, and now we’re finding ways to win games,” Johnson said. “So I think they’re looking to change that narrative. Now that we’ve done that, we’ve got to continue to develop that killer instinct."

Johnson agrees with Williams about the "vibe" he has helped nurture.

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“I can’t say enough good things about our locker room," the coach said. "We really have zero issues with discipline or anything of that nature."

The Bears are favored to beat the 2-7 New York Giants Sunday at Soldier Field and improve to 6-3.

Caleb Williams | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

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