Bears might be new to the big stage but have grown eager for it

This might sound wild to the long-timers at Halas Hall, who know all too well the struggles of a Chicago Bears franchise that’s almost 15 years removed from its last postseason victory and more than three decades past the team’s last stretch of three consecutive playoff seasons. But Bears newcomer C.J. Gardner-Johnson has never known anything other than this current existence. Important late-season games. A big stage. So much at stake. In line to be playoff-bound.

“It’s cool to know you’ve played meaningful football with a good group of guys every year,” Gardner-Johnson said Wednesday, his attention locked in on Saturday night’s spotlight game against the Green Bay Packers. “When you get to this stage, the focus level dials up a little more. You start to realize and feel that dynamic of win or go home.”

Gardner-Johnson is nearing the end of his seventh NFL season. Each of the previous six has included a trip to the postseason. Three appearances with the New Orleans Saints, one with the Detroit Lions, two with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Gardner-Johnson has been to the Super Bowl twice. He lost the first to the Kansas City Chiefs, a scar that still hasn’t fully healed. But he finally won the big one with the Eagles last winter, a 40-22 triumph over Kansas City in New Orleans.

So, yes, he is qualified to speak on the dynamics these Bears have stormed into.

“This is where teams separate themselves from good to great,” Gardner-Johnson said. “And the way you’re locked in, you put all the focus on what’s going to help you continue to win. And you take care of your teammates.”

Center stage

The Bears find themselves in an interesting and unfamiliar place in mid-December, currently the No. 2 seed in the conference with a half-step on Green Bay in the chase for the NFC North championship. That’s why the meaning of Saturday night’s game has become so heightened.

For many inside the locker room, this is new territory. Defensive tackle Andrew Billings, for example, is in his eighth season and, through various roller-coaster rides with the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders and Bears, he has never known the existence of playing for a team with 10 victories. He and Bears coach Ben Johnson talked about just that earlier this week.

“If you’re someone who hasn’t experienced it a whole lot, you’re just grateful,” Johnson said. “You’re grateful for this.”

Receiver DJ Moore, Year 8, has also never been on a team that finished above .500 before this season. “People say the lights get brighter around this time,” Moore said. “I can’t wait to see that and be a part of it.”

Tight end Cole Kmet and cornerback Jaylon Johnson? They were the headliners of the Bears’ 2020 draft class. Which means that they are playing for their fourth head coach in their sixth season together.

Kmet and Johnson — along with kicker Cairo Santos — are the only players remaining from the Bears’ last playoff team in 2020. But even that felt little like this. That squad started the season 5-1, skidded to an 8-8 finish, backed into the 7 seed in the NFC and got blown out in the playoffs.

That was also during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning the biggest crowd the Bears played for was 5,240 during an October road win at the Carolina Panthers. The attendance for the wild-card round in New Orleans was capped at 3,000.

This is not that. The buzz leading up to Saturday night is exploding.

“I’m excited about this, man,” Kmet said. “I’m really excited. This is what you put all the work in for, for these types of games. Obviously, we want to go in here and win the game. But there will definitely be a moment where you take it in. I’m sure Soldier Field is going to be rowdy. Saturday night. A lot of playoff implications. This is why you do it.”

‘No pressure’

At the start of this week, Ben Johnson dismissed the idea of galvanizing his players with a direct pep talk on the significance of Saturday night.

Bears-Packers. Soldier Field. First place on the line.

“There doesn’t need to be much of a message here this week,” Johnson said. “They know. They know what’s at stake.”

On Thursday, the Bears coach zoomed out a little, acknowledging the need for a carpe diem mentality. Johnson coached in playoff games with the Lions the last two seasons, and Detroit was alive for a postseason berth into the final hours of the 2022 season. But before that, Johnson, too, had been a part of an inordinate amount of losing across his previous 10 seasons with the Lions and Miami Dolphins.

Johnson is fully aware of what the Bears have set themselves up to be a part of. “You want to take advantage of the opportunity,” he said. “You just don’t know when it’s going to happen again. That’s the nature of the NFL.”

Jaylon Johnson dismissed the suggestion that these Bears will have to respond favorably to pressure over the final three weeks of the regular season and beyond.

“Respectfully, we ain’t got no pressure,” he said. “Everybody else was telling us we were not supposed to be here. So for us it’s just sticking true to what we know we can do and who we are.”

The Bears have a handful of veteran players who understand what is ahead, both with this critical closing stretch of regular-season games and then, hopefully, with playoff action.

Captain Joe Thuney, for example, has won four Super Bowls. Kevin Byard is pushing to play in the postseason for the sixth time. Grady Jarrett reached the Super Bowl as a rookie with the Atlanta Falcons — and lost in overtime to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Jarrett isn’t hiding his eagerness for Saturday night,

“This is what you play football for,” he said. “This is what you dream about — the opportunity to play prime-time football, a rivalry game, playoff implications, seeding implications. … You can’t ask for a better moment.”

Juice squeeze

Still, Jarrett’s push to the team is to keep things simple. “It’s just believing we are built for this moment,” he said. “It’s getting back to the basics, especially late in the season, knowing we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”

In front of his locker after Thursday’s practice, Kmet was asked to describe the electricity of being in this position with nothing but big games left on the docket.

“The juice of this is not maybe as heightened as you think it would be,” he said. “I think everyone in here has a really good demeanor. We’ve taken this approach of going game to game.

“I think going into the last game that we played against (Green Bay), I thought there was more juice going into the week. Like, almost too much — to where I felt like maybe there was a little pressing going on early in the game. Then you get in there at halftime, and you realize this is football. That’s all it is.”

That’s valuable perspective. It’s also an indication of how new these dynamics are and how, collectively, the Bears still need to gain experience within big games.

Gardner-Johnson has been there and done that.

“I thrive in big games,” he said. “You find that balance of being able to be assertive in making an impact without going outside the team.”

When Gardner-Johnson arrived at Halas Hall in October, he immediately sensed positive vibes in the locker room. Those have only heightened over the past eight weeks. So, too, has the sense of purpose.

“To get to that biggest stage, you have to be locked in,” Gardner-Johnson said. “The teams that get there understand that all criticism around this time of year is great criticism. … You’re also aware of the margin for error. It’s small. And it’ll jump up and bite you if you’re not careful.”

To that end, as weird as it sounds, the Bears have leaned into their flaws as a strength. Heading into a meaningful weekend, they’re also now feeding off the energized anticipation that has been created. “This,” Gardner-Johnson said, “is going to be fun. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

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