After watching tape of Sunday’s exciting 25-24 win over the Raiders in Las Vegas, Bears coach Ben Johnson spoke to reporters Monday via Zoom about five things that stood out to him in the game:

(1) Johnson was not surprised that Caleb Williams engineered an 11-play, 69-yard drive that culminated in the winning touchdown with 1:34 to play.

The Bears trailed 24-19 when they took over at their own 31 with 6:45 remaining. Williams followed by completing 4 of 5 passes for 42 yards and rushing for 19 yards on two carries to set up D’Andre Swift’s 2-yard TD run.

Johnson revealed that ever since he began working with Williams in offseason practices, even when the quarterback was still learning the offense, “everything tended to click for him” in two-minute situations.

“He just has a knack of finding an open guy,” Johnson said. “He has a knack of extending the play when needed. It’s almost like that little bit of pressure you put on him, he just thrives in and he really excels. That’s been consistent ever since we came into this building, so I’m not surprised it turned out that way. He was really good at the end of the first half. He was really good at the end of the game.”

Before Williams headed onto the field for the Bears’ final drive, Johnson expressed his confidence in the quarterback, telling him, “This is what you’re built for.”

“When the game’s on the line like that,” Johnson said Monday, “a lot of people, their heartbeat’s starting to go a little bit faster. His tends to slow down a little bit, and he really embraces that role.”

• Game Recap: Bears pull out thrilling road victory over Raiders
• By the Numbers: Bears’ Week 4 win over Raiders
• Josh Blackwell’s blocked field goal, defense’s four takeaways bolster Bears in win over Raiders
• Gameday Gallery: Bears at Raiders | 2025 Week 4
• Arrival Photos: Bears at Raiders | 2025 Week 4
• FULL HIGHLIGHTS: Bears’ Week 4 win over Raiders
• Caleb Williams on Week 4 win over Las Vegas Raiders | Press Conference

(2) Johnson viewed Williams’ 27-yard TD pass to receiver Rome Odunze early in the second half as an example of their cohesiveness continuing to grow.

Beating a blitz, Williams threw the ball before Odunze made his in cut, demonstrating the trust and precise timing between the two 2024 top-10 draft picks.

“[Williams] saw it really well,” Johnson said. “Anticipation showed up. He was able to deliver that ball on time before Rome came out of his break, and Rome was able to score with it, so we timed it up against the pressure, which was nice, and then Caleb saw it really well. It’s just another example of their rapport continuing to improve as we go through the year.”

It wasn’t the first time the two have connected: Odunze has caught five TD passes so far this year from Williams and is the NFL’s only player with a touchdown reception in each of the first four games this season.

Johnson stressed that the play would not have been possible had Williams not been afforded a clean pocket to throw from.

“It starts with the protection,” said the Bears coach. “We’ve been a little bit hit or miss in terms of the ‘pro’ and so those guys did a great job. They slid right into the pressure that the defense was bringing us, and because of that, Caleb was able to stand firm in the pocket.”

(3) Johnson lauded cornerback Tyrique Stevenson for a performance that included a diving interception, a fumble recovery and six tackles.

“I thought this was his best game to date,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if there’s any light switch that came on or anything like that. I feel like I see the same approach that I have seen all year long from him over the last few weeks.

“Certainly, I think the confidence level is rising. He knows what he is capable of as a player. The coaching staff hasn’t kept that a secret. He’s very capable as a coverage defender. I think he can be a complete corner in this league: man, zone, come up and tackle in the run game when called upon. [It] really just seems like he is gaining that confidence every single week right now and becoming the player he is capable of.”

(4) Johnson felt a key factor in the victory was the Bears playing complementary football at the end of both halves.

With under two minutes left in the first half, Williams and Odunze connected for a key 15-yard completion on third-and-2 to sustain a drive that resulted in Cairo Santos’ 52-yard field goal with :53 left. The defense then kept the Raiders from padding their 14-9 lead before time expired.

In the second half, Swift scored the go-ahead TD with 1:34 to play, Kevin Byard III dropped Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty for a 1-yard loss on third-and-2 from the Bears’ 35 and Josh Blackwell blocked Daniel Carlson’s 54-yard field goal attempt with :33 to go, preserving the win.

“All three phases, they really did a heck of a job,” Johnson said. “Before halftime we got a field goal and then we prevented them from having a rebuttal drive. And then at the end of the game, getting the touchdown, getting the lead, and then the defense forcing them into a long field goal attempt and with Josh Blackwell coming through for us there at the end. They all played off of each other and you really couldn’t end either the first half or the end of the game any better than that.”

(5) Johnson was pleased that the Bears achieved most of their goals and is confident they will improve the one area where he felt “they were a little bit deficient.”

The defense generated four takeaways for the second straight game and held the Raiders to 2 of 8 on third down (25%) but permitted 240 yards rushing.

“Each week we have keys to victory,” Johnson said. “The biggest thing that we missed this week was our run defense. We really felt like this was a week we needed to get back on track in that regard. But other than that, we hit on the turnovers, we hit on being great in our situational football. We were excellent in critical downs, two-minute situations and so, even though we missed on one of the big ones here this week, the other ones came through for us in a big way.”

The Raiders averaged 7.7 yards per rush, with Jeanty running for 138 yards, including a 64-yard TD.

“No one likes seeing six yards, seven yards per carry,” Johnson said. “That’s not what Chicago Bears football is about. That’s not what we want to be about. We’re working very diligently on getting better in that regard.

“The most important thing that we’re looking at as a staff and as players is, ‘How do we get better with some of our fundamentals?’ We’re not shedding blocks to the degree we’d like to yet, or at least as consistently as we’d like to yet. And we’re not making tackles in space as well as we’re capable of. We did enough live tackling over the course of training camp, I thought we’d be a little further along in that regard in the first four games. Still a work in progress.

“Like anything, you look at something where you might be a little bit deficient, you make it a point of emphasis, and then I know our guys will take that to heart and they’ll respond.”