Ben Johnson on Bears’ ugly win over Tampa Bay: “Only mediocre people can be at their best all the time”

The Bears didn’t play their best football on Sunday against Tampa Bay. They won anyway, and Ben Johnson has a line from his father that explains why he’s perfectly fine with that.

Johnson joined Danny Parkins on FOX Sports’ First Things First this week to talk about the 27-24 win, and he shared a message his dad sent him afterward.

“My dad sent me a quote: ‘Only mediocre people can be at their best all the time,’” Johnson shared. 

“As a team, to be able to still find a way to win and other guys step up and fill the void, I think that’s what good teams do.”

There was plenty of void to fill. Caleb Williams finished 22 of 37 for 279 yards with two touchdowns and a career-high four interceptions at Soldier Field on November 8. 

Add a Luther Burden fumble on a third-down screen that Tampa turned into a touchdown, and Chicago gave it away five times, and against all odds still found a way to escape with a win.

“It’s hard to win with five turnovers and yet we found a way to do it,” Johnson said postgame, per the Associated Press.

The defense did a lot of the finding. Jaylon Johnson picked off Baker Mayfield and took it 67 yards for a touchdown, Cam Lewis grabbed another before halftime, and the Bears defensive front sacked Mayfield four times. 

Tampa tied it at 24 with 2:51 left on a 6-yard Bucky Irving touchdown and a Mayfield scramble for the two-point conversion. In the final minute, Williams found Colston Loveland wide open for 38 yards down to the Tampa 16. Two kneel-downs later, Cairo Santos drilled a 38-yarder as time expired.

Williams didn’t sound like a quarterback who was going to start checking it down.

“I don’t get gun shy. That’s not me. That’s not my identity,” he said.

Johnson’s dad has a point, and it’s one every coach should pay attention to. Nobody plays clean for 17 games, and nobody plays completely clean for 9 or 10 games on a Friday night either. 

The teams that matter in November are the ones that can win on a day when their best player isn’t at his best, because somebody else picks up the slack. That doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from a roster where the backups, the special teams guys and the defense all believe the game is theirs to win, too and execute when that time comes.

The win moves Chicago to 7-2 heading into its bye, with the Saints coming to Soldier Field on November 22. Tampa Bay falls to 3-6.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.