CINCINNATI — Ben Johnson pulled out a bag of tricks to propel the Chicago Bears to a 47-42 win against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Paycor Stadium.

One of the plays, dubbed “Hot Potato,” accounted for the Bears’ first score. In fact, Johnson dialed up two specialized calls on that successful drive.

Week 9 photos: Chicago Bears beat Cincinnati Bengals 47-42

On first-and-10 at the Bears 41-yard line, Johnson called for a direct snap to tight end Cole Kmet, who pitched back to quarterback Caleb Williams, who sent it back to Kmet, who then tossed to wide receiver Rome Odunze for a 14-yard gain. But the Bengals won a challenge and it was ruled incomplete.

Still, the Bears drove to the Cincinnati 2-yard line and faced fourth-and-goal.

What took place next began to look a little like the “Philly Special” — the Philadelphia Eagles’ famous play from their Super Bowl win in the 2017 season — only Williams took the snap, instead of a running back, and leaked out to the right on a route, just like Nick Foles did for the Eagles against the New England Patriots.

But before Williams ran his route, he pitched to Odunze on what looked like a reverse. Instead, it was a double reverse. Odunze pitched to fellow receiver DJ Moore, who lofted a pass to Williams’ waiting arms in the end zone.

“We called it ‘Hot Potato,’” Williams said. “It looks like you’re hot-potato’ing the ball around to different people (three) times. One to Rome, one to DJ, and then back to me.

“It was something we’ve been practicing for the past two weeks, and it finally showed up on game day. It was a big play for us.”

When the call came in, Moore said he thought, “Touchdown coming.”

However, he hinted that his passes during practice weren’t all winners.

“I can’t (divulge) all that,” he said with a smile. “We got it when it counted.”

It was Williams’ first career catch in 25 games but not his only one on the day.

After a strip-sack by Austin Booker and recovery by Gervon Dexter Sr., the Bears had first-and-10 at the Bengals 38. They lined up in a spread formation with an empty backfield and backup quarterback Tyson Bagent lined up wide right of two other receivers.

Bagent stepped back and caught a backward pass from Williams, set his stance like he was going to fire up the right seam, then threw across the field back to Williams, who scurried up the left sideline for an 18-yard gain.

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams scores a receiving touchdown on a pass from wide receiver DJ Moore in the first quarter against the Bengals on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

“I actually did think I was going to have a two-catch game,” Williams said. “Both of those plays were plays that we’ve been practicing. They actually looked really good in practice.”

Johnson said he called the double quarterback pass because of the takeaway by the defense and because the play had a built-in option for Bagent.

“We had a little momentum, (so I) was looking to piggyback on that,” Johnson said, “and then it’s one of those gadgets throwing it out wide, trying to get some of the young players on their defense to potentially have bad eyes. We had the ability to throw that ball down the field — they covered it well down there — then we were able to throw it back across.”

With both of Williams’ receptions, the Bears said they also capitalized on the fact the Bengals were in man coverage, so no one was assigned to him.

On a day when the Bears offense generated 576 yards on 76 plays and produced six touchdowns, the gadget plays made a modest contribution to the final box score, but they helped set a tone.

The wild card is their normal.

“We had a lot of plays in general, so we were just cycling through what we felt like would work,” Johnson said. “I don’t feel like it was any more on the game plan than we normally have.”

As for the locker room’s reaction, players ranged from excitement about the gadget plays to the emotional equivalent of a shrug.

“Uh, they’re creative, but they’re regular for us at this point,” Moore said. “Get everybody involved. Get everybody touches in different ways. That’s creative.”

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Tight end Colston Loveland didn’t need a trick play to play the hero, just a garden-variety, 58-yard catch-and-run up the middle for a touchdown with 17 seconds left.

He expressed an appreciation for the call artistry but said they wouldn’t have been used if the players didn’t prove themselves in practice.

“Coach Johnson, he loves those,” Loveland said. “And just seeing them go in and seeing how real he is about them, when we run (them) in practice, they need to be perfect and we need to execute them or they’re getting thrown right out.

“So we kind of like that. We like having those cool plays in, and a couple got called off the sheet pretty early. So that was cool to see.”

It’s the practices and the personnel, running back Kyle Monangai said.

“We’ve got playmakers all over the offense, so we can do things like that because of the skill set everybody has,” he said. “I love it personally, it’s fun. Like in practice, we sometimes start messing around and then we’re kind of like: ‘Oh, that would work. That would look good.’

“(Johnson is) willing to call those things. If he’s going to call it, we’re going to do it.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/02/chicago-bears-ben-johnson-trick-plays/