LAS VEGAS -- As the Chicago Bears offense prepared to take the field at Allegiant Stadium down by five with 6:45 to play during Chicago's 25-24 win against the Las Vegas Raiders, coach Ben Johnson pulled quarterback Caleb Williams close.
Inside a stadium packed with 62,642 screaming fans, this moment was contained to just Johnson and Williams. The Bears coach put his play sheet to his mouth to privatize a conversation that didn't last for more than a couple of seconds but culminated with a message the quarterback took to heart before delivering his first game-winning drive of the season.
"I said, 'This is what you're built for', and these are the moments that he thrives in the most," Johnson said. "I think that's really been the story of his life, to be honest with you and I know he came through for us in a big way."
Four games into his second NFL season and eight months into his relationship with Johnson, this moment solidified to Williams that his coach not only speaks his language as a quarterback, but knows which buttons to push in critical moments.
"He provided belief and [the] confidence he has in me," Williams said. "From there, I went into the huddle and looked everybody in the eyes. This is the moment. This is where we go and win the game."
Williams led the Bears on an 11-play, 69-yard drive to give Chicago the go-ahead touchdown when D'Andre Swift crossed into the end zone on a 2-yard run. The victory marked the second road win of Williams' career and helped the Bears climb to 2-2 ahead of their Week 5 bye.
"He found a way," Johnson said. "The playmakers found a way."
Williams' play during back-to-back wins over Dallas and Las Vegas gave Johnson and his staff plenty to sort through during a week of self-scouting. One week after a performance that earned the quarterback NFC offensive player of the week honors, Williams and the offense did just enough to overcome missed opportunities and mistakes to notch a win on the road. Swift called the offense's play in Vegas "ugly" while Johnson categorized his unit as a "mess."
"I saw us getting better the first three weeks in a lot of ways on offense and then this was just a little bit of a step back for us," Johnson said.
There are plenty of questions the Bears hope to find answers for during the bye: who will be Chicago's starting left tackle in Week 6, why pre-snap penalties continue to plague the offense and how the Bears can fix the league's worst run defense -- which has allowed 164.5 yards per game.
But one area the Bears have already seen results in is the relationship Johnson and Williams.
The interaction with Johnson late in the Raiders game reinforced to Williams that the type of coaching he has received is working.
After Chicago's preseason win over Buffalo in August, Williams revealed that Johnson is calmer on the headset during games with the quarterbacks than he is during practice. Getting chewed out for missing open receivers during the week of prep is different from the encouraging words he gets from his head coach during games.
As the first quarter of the NFL season drew to a close, Williams noted how much more comfortable he felt with his footwork keeping him in rhythm in the passing game and how much better equipped he's been to get his team out of the huddle quickly so he can make checks at the line of scrimmage.
But perhaps Williams' biggest evolution thus far is in an area where Johnson narrowed his focus from the beginning of their time together.
"I think the biggest growth is being able to keep my composure for the guys most importantly," Williams said. "It's not just the other 10 guys on the field, it's the whole team. I think there were moments in the [Raiders] game where I got frustrated, and the growth in that standpoint of not having -- whether bad body language or not saying anything or raising my temper maybe too much ... those are moments that can change momentum. The guys look at me and they're like, 'Okay, he's composed.'"
For Johnson, that was part of his promise to coach Williams as hard as the quarterback asked for.
"We're not called to be here to be friends or be cheerleaders," Johnson said. "We're here to push, to challenge, to support.
"I really think that's important and it's not what the player wants to hear all the time ... but for him as an individual to get a little bit better. ... I try the best I can to emulate the good ones I've been around in my past and I think that's probably where I've seen some downfalls of certain coaches, is they have been afraid of conflict and telling a player how he sees it. I learned over the last few years that when there's silence, there's usually negativity [that] fills that void and breeds some resentment either way in a relationship.
"Caleb and I have a great relationship right now. I can't ask for anything better. I think he's wired the right way. I think he's getting better every single day he comes into the building. He's putting in the prep time that's necessary for us as an offense to put points up on the board and I think we're going to continue to see him head in the right direction."