Ben Johnson Goes Viral for Actions After Bears’ Win Over Eagles
The Chicago Bears silenced a number of doubters on Friday, November 28 by going on the road and besting the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in resounding fashion.
And if the nine-point victory wasn’t enough of a story, head coach Ben Johnson created another with his emotional words and actions in the Bears’ locker room following the contest.
Johnson has developed a reputation for his impassioned postgame speeches. He gave yet another on Saturday following his team’s fifth consecutive win, which was easily its most impressive of the season. The first-year coach is also going viral after tearing his shirt off as part of the celebration near the end of his address to players.
Delivered a dub 🐻⬇️
Johnson spoke to his players about their continued hunger, adding that the city they represent is hungry as well, at which point he went topless. ESPN’s Adam Schefter offered some insight into why Johnson made the choice he did.
“The Wieners Circle, an iconic hotdog stand on the north side of Chicago, promised free hotdogs for everyone if Bears HC Ben Johnson took off his shirt,” Schefter wrote on X. “Well….hot dogs, anyone?”
Bears’ Run Game Trounced Philadelphia’s Elite Defense
GettyRunning back Kyle Monangai of the Chicago Bears.
The Bears’ victory marked the second consecutive defeat for the Eagles (8-4), who blew a 21-0 lead against the Dallas Cowboys five days ago. Still, the Philadelphia defense had been decidedly improving across several weeks, and back-to-back games of 24 points allowed against upper-echelon NFL offenses like the Cowboys (1st overall after 12 games played) and the Bears (6th overall through 11 games) does not necessarily equate to poor results.
That said, what Chicago was able to do against Philly on the ground may have even surprised the players in the Bears’ locker room to an extent.
The team finished the afternoon with 47 rushing attempts for 281 yards and two scores. Seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai hung 130 yards and a touchdown on the Eagles’ defense, while D’Andre Swift put up 122 yards and a score.
Johnson mentioned both backs in his postgame speech, though he awarded one of two game balls to the offensive line as a whole, which played impeccably against one of the more fearsome front-seven groups in the league. The other game ball went to defensive back Nashon Wright.
Bears Have Opportunity to Win Division, Contend for No. 1 Seed in NFC
GettyChicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
The Bears hadn’t beaten a team over .500 on the year coming into Philadelphia Friday, save for the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5). Chicago’s win against the Eagles is sure to open some eyes and/or change the minds of several who were already watching closely.
The team faced statistically the most difficult schedule over the end of the season beginning with its Week 12 game against Pittsburgh at Soldier Field. After winning twice in five days, the Bears have moved to 9-3 and maintained their half-game lead over the Green Bay Packers (8-3-1), who bested the Detroit Lions (7-4) on Thanksgiving Day.
Chicago currently owns the second-best record in the NFC, behind only the Los Angeles Rams (9-2), who play a road game against the Carolina Panthers Sunday. The Seattle Seahawks (8-3) could move into a tie with the Bears if they can beat the visiting Minnesota Vikings this weekend.
The Bears now have nine days off to prepare for their first of two contests against the Green Bay Packers over the next three weeks, both of which will have major playoff, playoff-seeding and NFC North Division implications. Chicago travels to Lambeau Field on December 7 before hosting Green Bay at Soldier Field two weeks later.
Despite overcoming their slow start to the season, the Lightning aren’t getting too wrapped up in their recent run of success. The focus remains on getting better one game at a time
Forwards Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel continue to play central roles for the Tampa Bay Lightning, each scoring goals on Thursday to lead the Bolts to a 2-1 overtime victory over the Dallas Stars.
Cirelli’s latest tally was the game-winner at Benchmark International Arena and came on a breakaway 2 minutes, 36 seconds into overtime.
Tampa Bay improves its record to 5-4-2 with their latest victory, one that pushes the team’s win streak to four games after a 1-4-2 start to the year.
"It's unfortunate that we had to use five, six games early in the year kind of as our exhibition is the way we treated it almost, but I'm really proud of the guys,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said postgame. "They’ve dug in. They're pros, and we're a different team right now. I think there's synergy and chemistry on the lines, and everybody's picking each other up.”
Tampa Bay was a force in the game’s opening minutes, earning numerous scoring chances despite the first period ending in a 0-0 tie.
Hagel scored for a third straight game on a night that saw him consistently wreak havoc in the Dallas defensive zone. The winger hit a post in the first period and created numerous other good looks before opening the scoring in the middle frame.
Hagel’s goal came on the power play, the score a centering pass that deflected off the stick of Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen before crawling over the goal line. Initially waved off, a review showed the puck crossed the line to make it 1-0 with 4:58 left in the period.
Even Hagel wasn’t initially sure if the puck had fully crossed the goal line.
"It was a little bit dicey, to be honest,” Hagel said. "I didn't know if I could see red or not, but (Dominic) James was pretty confident it went in. But thank God it did and they blew the whistle because I think there was a breakaway or something."
The Stars tied the game 2:03 into the third period on Adam Erne’s net-front redirection of a point shot from defenseman Adam Petrovic.
The Lightning stuck with their game plan, and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stood tall in the third period. Vasilevskiy made 10 of his 20 saves across the final 20 minutes of regulation to push the game to overtime, when the home team earned the winner.
Midway through the extra period, Hagel forced a turnover by Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen in Tampa Bay defensive zone, and Cirelli chipped the puck out of the zone to create a breakaway chance for himself. Cirelli deked to his backhand before tucking the puck just inside the right goalpost to win the game.
“I think that's his signature move,” Hagel said of Cirelli’s winner. "I think he did that a lot a couple of years ago, and I don't know why he hasn't done it for a while, so when I saw him go back to it I knew he was gonna put in that winner.“
The team will look to keep the wins coming when they begin a three-game road trip with a game against the Utah Mammoth at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Despite overcoming their slow start to the season, the Lightning aren’t getting too wrapped up in their recent run of success. The focus remains on getting better one game at a time.
“It’s a crazy game. You can’t get too high and you can’t get too low,” Cirelli said. "We’ve just got to keep continuing, getting better in practices, getting better when watching our video and just taking it one game at a time.”
That being said, the team has seen some growth over this four-game stretch compared to the start of the season.
“There was just too much risk, and we were just feeding other teams rushes and feeding them chances,” Cooper said. "The best goalies in the world, they're not going to keep you in games like that. And as you can see, the guys have made an effort, and we've changed the way we’ve played. We've changed our mentality, and our losses have turned into wins.”
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Anthony Cirelli, TBL (Game-winning goal)
- Brandon Hagel, TBL (Goal)
- Jake Oettinger, DAL (30 saves)
