After taking a commanding 41-27 lead with less than 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Bears seemed to have secured a victory. DJ Moore’s fourth-quarter touchdown gave the Bears a 98.9% win percentage, according to ESPN.

However, 40-year-old Joe Flacco and the Bengals would not go quietly. After a defensive collapse, it appeared to be a classic rendition of the Bears losing in the most improbable of ways. But after a 58-yard touchdown from rookie tight end Colston Loveland, Bears fans could exhale as they reclaimed the lead and secured a wild victory to improve to 5-3 on the season.

It is the third time this season the Bears have won a tight game that came down to the final whistle. It’s a trend that Bears fans and the organization are not used to seeing.

Although it may not have been pretty, the Bears and Ben Johnson were hyped after the hard-fought win.

After the game, Johnson delivered his typical “Good. Better. Best.” speech, but he also echoed a different message to his team and the league.

“Here’s what I know about this group … If it’s close in the fourth quarter, you better watch out,” said Johnson in the locker room after the win.

Johnson echoed a similar message in his postgame presser.

“Overall, (I’m) just really proud of the group and how resilient they were … they’re going to fight you all 60 minutes,” stated Johnson.

In Week 4, the Bears defeated the Raiders after a last-second field goal block by Josh Blackwell. Coming out of their bye week, the Bears then went on to beat the Commanders, thanks to Jake Moody’s 38-yard game-winning field goal.

Now, Caleb Williams and Colston Loveland were able to play the hero in a dramatic win over the Bengals. These close wins signal a change in culture around the Bears organization. Historically, many would think the Bears would lose all those games — and they certainly dropped quite a few of those games last season.

However, under Johnson, there is now a belief – and dare we say, even an expectation – that this Bears team can and should win these close games.

“We knew we needed to change the narrative about the Chicago Bears. And that narrative, whether you like it or not, was that in the fourth quarter we were going to find a way to screw things up. I think so far this year, through eight games we’ve found a way to win more often than we’ve found a way to screw things up,” Johnson told Jeff Joniak on ESPN 1000 on Monday morning.

The win Sunday puts them well within the NFC playoff hunt, and with both the Lions and Packers losing this past week, the NFC North is locked in a tight race that will likely come down to the final week of the season.

However, with the win, Johnson and the Bears know there is more work to be done and that they can’t be satisfied.

“You go into the locker room and it’s an exciting win like that, and yet there’s a number of guys who are pretty dissapointed with how they played,” Johnson told media after the game.

The Bears return to Soldier Field to face Jaxson Dart and the Giants in Week 10.