'We know we can win these games' — Bears prove late-game heroics are more than a fluke and more of a narrative-changing mindset

Late-game wins for Chicago show the growing culture under Ben Johnson

"It's big because we know we can win these games in those moments," quarterback Caleb Williams explained. "When the game is close, defense does a good job stopping them and we go down and score. Defense goes back out and stops them, how ever the situation goes down. We know that we can win these games, in these moments, in these big moments."

"We would like to win by 30, but that's not always the case and that's not always going to be the case. Being able to know we can win these games is really important."

Credit to head coach Ben Johnson for instilling that kind of belief and confidence in his players to come through and win in these close games, because wins like the last two the Bears pulled off mean more than a 30-point blowout.

As veteran safety Kevin Byard said after the win against the Las Vegas Raiders, the narrative was, if you keep it close with the Bears, you'll end up winning. Not anymore, these aren't the Same Ole' Bears.

"I think it says a lot about our locker room right now," Johnson said after the win. "They really, they're not just believing, but now they're starting to understand that if this thing's close in the fourth quarter, then someone's going to step up and make a play for us. We had a number of guys here in this fourth quarter that did that. I think these wins can sometimes go a longer way for your program then those blowouts do. So, it was good to see."

It certainly wasn't easy, and that's a good thing. The Bears dealt with some tough breaks on penalties, had a number of mental mistakes on all three phases, had a field goal blocked, played in some crappy weather on the road, but none of that mattered.

This was a team that stuck together for all four quarters and never put a head down after a missed opportunity or a bad play. What Johnson is building in this locker room is special and the Bears are really starting to turn the corner in a hurry under his leadership.