Coach Ben Johnson’s kids wanted to watch the second half of the Bears’ “Monday Night Football” victory over the Commanders before they went to school Tuesday morning. Johnson, who heard some of the replay, didn’t sound amused, telling Bears radio play-by-play man Jeff Joniak in an interview Tuesday that “it sounded like, from that game, [that] a few people weren’t particularly pleased with how we were winning.”
Asked again later about the broadcast, he offered deeper perspective.
“Listen, [if] you want respect in this league, you’ve got to go earn it,” he said. “That’s where we’re at right now. We need to go earn that respect from not only the rest of the teams in the NFL, but everybody. That’s where we are.”
Johnson never said the name of Hall of Fame quarterback and ESPN/ABC analyst Troy Aikman, who drew the ire of some Bears fans for characterizing D’Andre Swift’s 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the fourth quarter as a matter of fortune.
“Open as he is, then you make one guy miss, and now with his speed, he’s off to the races,” Aikman said during a replay. “Just um, just luck on Chicago’s part. It really wasn’t so much intended.”
Flag Bears
After being flagged nine times for 84 yards Monday, the Bears rank fourth in the NFL with 8.6 penalties per game. Their 72.4 penalty yards per game are third-most in the league.
Wide receiver Rome Odunze’s 11-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter was wiped out when left tackle Theo Benedet lined up too far back from the line of scrimmage. Johnson said Benedet had been warned earlier in the game about lining up too far back — a courtesy many officials afford players.
Referee Alex Moore’s crew is one of the most ticky-tack in the NFL, leading the league in penalties called and yardage accrued via flags. Johnson said he only turns calls into the NFL for review when he needs clarity on how to coach something and noted there “might have been one or two” instances Monday that fit the bill.
Notes
Linebacker Noah Sewell is in concussion protocol after leaving in the second quarter.
• Left tackle Charles Leno, who started 94 games in seven years with the Bears before spending three more years with the Commanders, announced his retirement. He last played in 2023, starting 13 games. Leno said on Instagram he chose Tuesday to make the announcement because it was the two-year anniversary of the death of his young daughter.
• Monday’s game was the second consecutive 25-24 win for the Bears, matching the score of their victory over the Raiders in Week 4. The only other team to win back-to-back games by one point with the same score was the 1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets.
• The Bears’ next four opponents have losing records: the Saints (1-5), Ravens (1-5), Bengals (2-4) and Giants (2-5).
• The Commanders went 3-for-8 on third down, marking the third consecutive game in which the Bears allowed three or fewer third-down conversions. They hadn’t done that in 21 years.
