Ben Johnson shades Troy Aikman for commentary during Bears at Commanders broadcast

As the Chicago Bears came out of the bye, they had to go up against Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders on the big stage. The game got the Monday Night Football treatment with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the call, and Chicago coach Ben Johnson heard some of the commentary Tuesday morning.

The Bears came away with a 25-24 victory over the Commanders, getting their revenge for last year’s game, which ended in a Hail Mary for the Washington victory. Chicago used a strong rushing attack led by D’Andre Swift, while Caleb Williams also made key plays down the stretch to keep the Bears in the game. Of course, Jake Moody also drilled the walk-off field goal.

But as his kids watched the second half Tuesday morning, Johnson heard some of the commentary from the broadcast. Speaking with Jeff Joniak on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, he appeared to throw some shade at Aikman.

“It sounded like, from that game the other night, a few people weren’t particularly pleased with how we were winning right now,” Johnson said. “I woke up this morning and my kids were watching the second half before school, so I heard some of the commentary. But listen, in this league, any way you can find a way to win is a big deal. Like you said, that’s two in a row on the road that came down to the last play, and the guys did a great job believing and executing there to finish the game.

“Now, we do know it’s not sustainable for the rest of the season, as well. There’s a number of mistakes we’ve got to clean up, there’s the penalties we’ve got to clean up. There’s a lot of work we’ve still got to do to get this thing going the way we want it to. But when you’re winning games and it’s ugly like that, it’s certainly going a long way for your team.”

After starting the Ben Johnson Era at 0-2, the Bears have now won three straight games – and Monday’s victory over Washington marked their second win out of a bye week since 2014. It wasn’t without penalty issues, though, as Chicago got called for nine penalties for 84 yards.

It’s also the second straight game which came down to the final play. In Week 5, Chicago went down to the wire against the Las Vegas Raiders before blocking Daniel Carlson’s potential game-winning field goal at the buzzer. This time, it was Moody who lined up for the buzzer-beater fresh off the practice squad, and he sent Chicago to its third win of the year.