Ben Johnson explains how Bears threw first punch against Seahawks

The Chicago Bears entered their Week 8 Monday Night Football matchup against the Seattle Seahawks as underdogs. For all of Chicago’s hype, Seattle is the defending Super Bowl champions and have arguably the best defense in the NFL.

Still, the Bears came out victorious, moving to 6-2 with a 34-17 win. Quarterback Caleb Williams completed 24-of-34 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown. On the flip side, defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons had an explosive Chicago debut, recording sicks tackles, two for a loss, a sack and a pass defense.

Expectations will only get loftier for the Bears now. The NFL has seen how potent they can be. Head coach Ben Johnson and company have a target on their back.

Johnson isn’t flinching from that pressure. He expected and game planned for a similar vibe against the Seahawks.

Bears start Seahawks battle with a bang

On their opening drive, the Bears ran 17 plays, chewing 8:32 off the clock. It was culminated by a one-yard passing touchdown from Williams to Burden. From there, Chicago didn’t trail the rest of the way.

With how diligent Seattle’s defense is, Johnson knew it may be difficult to gain chunk yardage to start the game. Instead, he and Williams picked their spots. By consistently converting third or fourth downs, the Bears managed to set a winning tone from the jump, via Johnson’s postgame press conference.

“We thought it was going to be tough to get this thing going. In the first half, we talked about being patient. If the running game were getting ones, twos and threes we thought we could eventually get to the point where those would turn into threes, fours and fives. It’s a really good front, really good scheme, they make it very challenging on you.”

Alongside what can be seen in the box score, Johnson credited Chicago’s communication on that drive. From quarterback to offensive line and the skill position players, everyone was on the same page. It’ll be hard to stop the Bears if they can get into a 17-play rhythm.

The franchise is now gearing up for everything the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to offer. If it’s up to Johnson, the Bears will get out to another explosive start.

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