Bear Digest

What Ben Johnson saw to let Caleb Williams hunt for Colston Loveland

The Chicago Bears coach knew what he wanted to see from Cincinnati's defense to make the play call for the winning touchdown and he got that look.
Gene Chamberlain|
Demetrius Knight Jr. forces quarterback Caleb Williams out of bounds on a scramble in Sunday's 47-42 Bears win.
Demetrius Knight Jr. forces quarterback Caleb Williams out of bounds on a scramble in Sunday's 47-42 Bears win. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Colston Loveland was surprised to find himself still standing after making the reception at the 36-yard line of Cincinnati and breaking a tackle, but after the shock of it all he had one other thought in his mind Sunday as he raced toward the goal line with time running down on the Bears' chances.

Don’t get caught.

"I can't leak it down to six seconds and then get tackled at the 1—that's game," the Bears rookie tight end said.

Knowing they might not have time to get the field goal unit on or possibly even line up on the ball to kill the clock, Loveland bolted and won the race to the end zone with the 58-yard touchdown for a miraculous Bears 47-42 comeback win.

"I was just happy to be up, a lot of green grass in front of me, it's like, man, I've got to get in the end zone," said Loveland, who had career highs of six catches and 118 yards, as well as a 5-yard TD catch from Williams in the third quarter for a 24-20 lead when things were a bit more sane.

The final touchdown occurred in part because Loveland's role in the game was elevated after tight end Cole Kmet went out with a suspected concussion, although at the point when he made his fateful catch and gallop for the win he could have been on the field anyway.

That’s because the play they used was with him in mind.  

Coach Ben Johnson was looking for a particular coverage from the Bengals at several points in the game to run the play they ran for the TD. It was a twin safety defensive look and they thought a seam pass to Loveland would work.

"We were hunting it for the whole game," Williams said. "When (Johnson) and I were on the sideline speaking (before the play) he was like, 'I think we're going to get this coverage here in this moment and it's awesome when you've got a coach like that. We ended up getting the coverage."

If you get the idea Williams thinks Johnson put his stamp on the win you're  right.

"Colston made a great play, offensive line blocked well, threw a solid ball to Colston, he made a great play for us bouncing off a few tacklers and taking it the distance," Williams said. "In that moment, it's like Steph Curry with Steve Kerr, where it's like 'no, no, no, no, no.' Then it's like, 'Yes."

In this case though, it wasn't a 3-pointer from the logo but a win on a touchdown pass.

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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.