The Chicago Bears lived under pressure throughout the 2025 NFL season.
Second-year quarterback Caleb Williams helped lead his team on seven fourth-quarter comeback drives, including the playoffs. There is a reason why the team was labeled the “Cardiac Bears.”
When the Bears were in those high-pressure moments, the team didn’t blink. Instead, they embraced those moments and came away with some memorable victories.
- The blocked field goal against the Las Vegas Raiders.
- A game-winning field goal against the Washington Commanders.
- A game-deciding touchdown from Colston Loveland against the Cincinnati Bengals.
- A comeback victory against the New York Giants.
- A big-time kick return from Devin Duvernay combined with a Cairo Santos game-winning field goal against the Minnesota Vikings.
- A game-winning touchdown from Caleb Williams to DJ Moore against the Green Bay Packers in overtime.
- And finally, another game-deciding score from Williams to Moore against the Packers in the wild-card round.
What did Ben Johnson say about the Cardiac Bears
“We handled pressure better than most,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said. “And I think that's a credit to Ryan (Poles) and the type of guys that he brought in. They’re wired the right way. They thrive in those circumstances. And that showed up for us in a big way. Our coaching staff tried to apply pressure on them early on in the springtime and throughout training camp. And I'm not saying they grew numb to it, but it's almost like they embraced it, and that they were at their best in those moments. And so those are the three things that we wanted to be about. I think we brought that to light. What we will reassess as a coaching staff, you know, where we need to go from here, but we got plenty of time to do that.”
The Bears have proven that they shouldn’t be counted out of any given game, regardless of the circumstances.
However, that doesn’t mean the team should always be in those situations in the first place. Slow starts put the Bears in positions where comebacks were necessary. Playing a complete game would not only make fans feel more comfortable but also make general manager Ryan Poles feel more comfortable.
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The Bears should embrace that unique characteristic while also striving to be more consistent in games so that the Cardiac Bears don’t become a regular occurrence, but rather an addition to what the team can do.