{"id":313756,"date":"2025-11-29T05:27:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T05:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/313756\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T05:27:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T05:27:23","slug":"ben-johnson-loves-smashmouth-football-the-bears-delivered-to-stun-the-eagles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/313756\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Johnson loves smashmouth football. The Bears delivered to stun the Eagles"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson<\/a> looked at the box score and had a regret after his team\u2019s 24-15 win<\/a> over the defending champion Eagles.<\/p>\n

\u201cShoot, I probably called too many pass plays this game, especially with how we\u2019re running it, so \u2026 that\u2019s an area that I can be better at, too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. Johnson wished he had called more runs, even though the 47 rushes were the most for the Bears in a non-overtime game in 30 years. And that\u2019s what they leaned on in one of the biggest wins in over a decade.<\/p>\n

Running backs D\u2019Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai became the first Bears duo to each have 100 rushing yards in a game since 1985, when Walter Payton and Matt Suhey did it.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve never had two players log at least 125 rushing yards in the same game, like Swift and Monangai did Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s amazing,\u201d Swift said. \u201cThat\u2019s a great stat to have. I didn\u2019t even know the numbers until they told us. But to do something like that, that\u2019s amazing. Hats off to the O-line, I can\u2019t say that enough. The job that we\u2019re doing up front, receivers blocking downfield, they make our jobs so much easier. We\u2019re starting to click at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bears clinched that winning record and earned themselves a spot in the \u201cOh, they\u2019re for real\u201d conversation on the backs of an offensive line that created running lanes all afternoon long in Philadelphia. Johnson gave the starting five a game ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t say enough about that running game,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we win that game if we\u2019re not able to run the ball like we were. \u2026 You could feel decisiveness, you could feel them hitting it downhill. They turned on the gas and were lowering their shoulders, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was so good to see, but it doesn\u2019t happen without that offensive line. You can\u2019t say enough about Ozzy (Trapilo) and Joe (Thuney) and Drew Dalman and Jonah (Jackson) and then Darnell (Wright). I mean, those guys were huge for us, and so really proud of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bears have invested resources in the offensive line, and it shows. Wright is a top-10 pick, and general manager Ryan Poles acquired three highly paid interior linemen and then a second-round pick in Trapilo. They\u2019re playing like it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t do (anything) without them,\u201d Swift said. \u201cThey were clicking all night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Battling the wind, quarterback Caleb Williams completed only 17 of his 36 passes. He had a passer rating of 56.9. It\u2019s the lowest completion percentage and passer rating in a Bears win since the hallmark game in Arizona in the 2006 NFC championship season.<\/p>\n

When the receivers and tight ends couldn\u2019t do what they do best, they blocked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a frustrating game if you\u2019re a pass catcher because those conditions were challenging for us to get some consistency going there,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cAnd yet they still were a big part of what we were doing there in the run game, and they knew that going into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the type of selfless play that a winning team like the Bears can show as an example in the film room. Some of Williams\u2019 passes sailed. Receivers lost their footing on routes. But when Swift and Monangai got the ball, their receivers and tight ends held their blocks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an elite wide receiver group that is willing to go put themselves out there and block for the betterment of the team,\u201d Williams said. \u201cEven on a day where maybe we\u2019re not gonna throw as much, or the conditions are affecting the pass game. \u2026 And so their willingness, especially with who they are, the type of receivers they are, where they\u2019ve been drafted and how special they are, their willingness to go out there and block. It\u2019s tremendous, it\u2019s awesome to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first touchdown drive was exactly what Johnson loved \u2014 smashmouth football. Seven of the 11 plays were run plays, finishing with Swift\u2019s 3-yard touchdown run.<\/p>\n

The statement came at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth. After Nahshon Wright\u2019s strip and recovery of Jalen Hurts\u2019 fumble on the \u201ctush push,\u201d Johnson called a run for Monangai, and the rookie took it 31 yards.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always talk about getting that first first down and not necessarily thinking it\u2019s gonna be an explosive run like that,\u201d Johnson said, \u201cbut that was a huge one in that moment because we were still on our side of the field pretty backed up, and that got it to midfield and really ignited us as a whole team. And so that was great to see. I think he played his tail off. So did Swift.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was the first of five consecutive handoffs to Monangai.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did?\u201d Monangai asked about the consecutive touches. \u201cI don\u2019t expect anything. I just listen to what Caleb calls in the huddle, and I go execute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monangai finished that drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. The 12-play, 87-yard drive took 6:44 off the clock and gave the Bears a 17-9 lead. Only three of the 12 plays were passes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it\u2019s clicking early on, that\u2019s kind of what you want. That\u2019s demoralizing to the opposing team,\u201d Swift said. \u201cThat\u2019s a good thing that we got a chance to do that today.\u201d<\/p>\n

No team had run for 280 yards against the Eagles in a decade. The Bears ran for 17 first downs, the most in the league this season. This is the second 280-yard rushing performance for the Bears in 2025. They hadn\u2019t had multiple 280-yard rushing efforts in a season since 1984.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were doing a great job. Swift, Kyle, everybody back there toting the ball, they were doing a great job,\u201d Wright said. \u201cAll props to them. \u2026 They were f\u2014ing balling.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was the coldest game the Bears have played in this season, and Johnson wanted a team built for these elements. They have three games left at Soldier Field and one at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. On a windy afternoon in Philadelphia, they ran wild.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re in this particular division, you know you\u2019re playing outside. You know it\u2019s called the black-and-blue division for a reason,\u201d Johnson said earlier this month. \u201cYou know what these opponents are going to look like. Yeah, I think it\u2019s important for us to have a strong running game so that we can win these games potentially in poor weather late in the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hope is that when the Bears have to rely on Williams to win with his arm, they can \u2014 and he finished the game 5-for-7 passing, including a touchdown pass to Cole Kmet, a pair of third-down conversions and a critical fourth-down throw to tight end Colston Loveland. On Black Friday, he enjoyed his point of view when he\u2019d hand the ball off, turn around and watch his teammates roll.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if y\u2019all ever see me back there, but when I see a crease, I start getting really excited,\u201d he said. \u201cI start jumping around like a little kid. I\u2019m excited for those guys, those are my brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the biggest wins in the post-Lovie Smith era would have made the former Bears coach proud with the combo of running the ball and taking it away. A bruising rushing attack, one that wound and weaved its way through Vic Fangio\u2019s defense, hitting creases and wearing down the defending champs, kept the Bears atop the NFC North.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson looked at the box score and had a regret after his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,1735,514,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-313756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}