Bears gained more than revenge by toppling Commanders on a Hail Moody

"I think it says a lot about our locker room right now," coac Ben Johnson said. "They're not just believing but now they're starting to understand that, man, if this thing is close in the fourth quarter then someone is going to step up and make a play for us and we had a number of guys here in this fourth quarter that did that.

"I think those wins can sometimes go a longer way for your team than these blowouts do."

It wasn't so much about statistics and passing numbers for Caleb Williams in this one. His big showdown with Jayden Daniels probably went the other way as the Commanders QB threw for three touchdowns and Williams one while running for ne. But gutting out the win was the key message being taken from their rally after being down 24-16 in the fourth quarter.

Two weeks earlier they did the same sort of thing but in a different way. This time they leaned on D'Andre Swift's running for 34 yards on five carries, including the key 15-yarder on a toss to the 18 that set up the winning field goal. They wouldn't even have had the chance without the 55-yard TD pass to Swift earlier or the takeaway on a botched handoff by Jayden Daniels that Nahshon Wright recovered.

They persisted despite losing a Rome Odunze touchdown catch on a horrendous officials' call and despite a blocked field goal and failed fourth-down gamble.

"I think being able to stay strong in those moments mentally is most important," Williams said. "That's what I did. That's what we did. We stayed steady through all the ups and downs we had and adversity throughout this game.

"We stayed steady as a team. Mentally we didn't flinch and we kept going."

For Williams it meant persevering and finding ways even when things weren't perfect. He said he botched the call on the short pass to Swift along the sidelines that broke 55 yards for the critical touchdown in their comeback.

He also found the play in the first half when he scored on a 1-yard run around the right side for a 13-0 lead was in danger of failing.

"I actually didn't think the play was going to work because there was three defenders sitting outside of the tackle over there," Williams said. "So when the ball got snapped I was like, uh-oh, I'm going to have to go make a play."

So he did by sneaking in outside Swift's block.

It all made for a better Bears memory than the Hail Mary game last year.

"I don't think any of those memories necessarily go away," Williams told reporters. "Good or bad I think you move on from it but I don't think it doesn't necessarily fully go away."

Safety Kevin Byard sees the narrow wins in succession as proof the culture for being a winning team is building, if not already here.

"I think we're finally, as a team, as a culture, finally learning how to win these close games because they're all not going to be blowouts," Byard said. "It's a special group.

"We talk about culture all the time. You really know what youre culture is lik with your team when you're facing adversity and you're in thes close games. We could have easily had our heads down. We were down by eight but nobody blinked. We just kept fighting."

And learning.

After two tight victories in as many games, the Bears are proving they're battle-tested and have gained the winning knack.

It might be time to try something different in the future, like taking control early and winning easily.

It’s easier on everyone.