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C.J. Gardner-Johnson the defensive difference-maker in Chicago Bears’ comeback win

November 10, 2025
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CHICAGO — Because he dons an orange sleeve, it should be hard to miss Chicago Bears cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

He already had a sack and a forced fumble. He lined up near the right tackle. Antennae should have gone up for the New York Giants. But then again, why would the nickel cornerback, who has been on the team for only 11 days, blitz? Again?

Yet on third-and-7, with 3:05 to go in a three-point game, Gardner-Johnson came screaming into the backfield like a missile, untouched. Giants quarterback Russell Wilson saw him at the last second, tried to elude him, but to no avail.

“You got to make your opportunities count,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Those types of quarterbacks, you see them make guys miss, how Caleb makes people miss.”

Sack. Bears football. Then a shanked punt, a Luther Burden catch and a Caleb Williams touchdown run. The sequence turned the game for the Bears in their 24-20 win.

“It was the perfect call. (Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) dialed up the perfect call,” cornerback Nahshon Wright said, “and he was able to make the play.”

Gardner-Johnson is already third on the team in sacks, and his impact plays helped rally the defense to hold the Giants to three points in the final 27 minutes.

“New addition, came in two weeks ago, but let me tell you something, you made some plays now,” coach Ben Johnson said in the locker room as he presented Gardner-Johnson with a game ball.

The seventh-year veteran, who’s on his fourth team in three years, expressed his gratitude to be part of the 2025 Bears.

“I was home for almost two months, bro, missing ball,” he told his teammates and coaches. “Being around this group, y’all brought the love back for me. I’m just happy to be part of a great group. … Let’s keep this s— rolling.”

Gardner-Johnson’s first sack came on second down in the first quarter. He shot out like a cannon, untouched, on his way to the elusive Jaxson Dart, bringing him down and helping force a three-and-out.

“Three sacks in two weeks, just happy for him because you know, I kind of understand what it’s like to come to a new team in the middle of the year, making impact plays he’s been making,” safety Kevin Byard said. “He’s been on the couch for a little bit, just happy for him to get the game ball at the end of the game as well. He’s a hell of a player. We always knew that, so for him to come in and make those plays and help us win ballgames, it’s huge for us.”

For three quarters, the Bears offense couldn’t get rolling. They were 1-for-4 on fourth down and 3-for-11 on third down. That helped the Giants not only stay in the game but eventually build a two-score lead on Dart’s arm and legs.

With five minutes to go in the third quarter, Dart took off once again. He already had a 24-yard touchdown run. The Giants led 17-7. As he followed his blockers, approaching the red zone on a designed run up the left hash, Gardner-Johnson came off his man.

At this point, Gardner-Johnson was annoyed. So he went to punch the ball.

“I got tired of him running the ball,” he said. “So that was it, made a play.”

The ball popped in the air, and Dart came down with it originally, but he couldn’t hang on. Wright recovered the fumble, the lone turnover in the game.

“No disrespect, it’s just like, aggravating, when (Dart) breaks for 20, 50 yards and you’re playing great coverage,” Gardner-Johnson said. “So, had to find a way to get off the field and get the ball out of his hands eventually.”

The fumble recovery kept points off the board, and the offense got a field goal in response as it crept back into the game. The defense seemed primed to give up yet another Giants score when running back Devin Singletary shed a tackle attempt by linebacker Noah Sewell on third down and scampered for 41 yards. But Allen’s defense made two stops inside the 2-yard line, and the Giants kicked a field goal from the 1.

“I think our red zone defense was really good today,” Byard said. “I think (the Giants) were 1-for-4, so that kind of saved us a little bit.”

Williams’ touchdown pass to wide receiver Rome Odunze with 3:59 left gave the defense some breathing room. They didn’t necessarily need to register a three-and-out — Johnson had all three timeouts. But why not? Defensive end Montez Sweat sacked Wilson on a play-action rollout, then Gardner-Johnson notched his sack two plays later.

“D.A. knows (Gardner-Johnson’s) strengths,” Wright said. “Obviously, he had them for, I think, three years in New Orleans. He knows what he’s good at, and I think he allowed him to be himself today.”

A little perspective on Gardner-Johnson’s eight quarters as a Bear:

• His three sacks not only rank third on the team but would’ve been tied for second for the entire 2022 Bears.

• He became the first Bears defensive back since Ricky Manning in 2006 to record two sacks in a game. He’s the first NFL defensive back to have two sacks and a forced fumble in a game since Trent McDuffie did it for the Chiefs in Week 11 of 2023.

• Gardner-Johnson now leads all NFL defensive backs with three sacks.

• According to Bears PR, the last defensive back to record three sacks in his first two games with a team was Rod Kush with the Houston Oilers in 1985.

“It’s just a blessing to be here,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Like I said, I was home for a month and a half. And there is … scrutiny. But when you’re around a great group of people, a great group of coaches that believe in you, I think all that goes out the window when they can see the person. Then you come in and just adapt and adjust and … come in and play right away and make an impact on the team.”

When things weren’t going well for the Bears in the second half, when the Giants scored 17 unanswered points, it was the new guy who kept the team hyped.

“Like an energy bug, consistently out there talking to guys,” Wright said. “Even when we were down, he kind of was keeping us going. ‘Come on, we got to make this play, get a stop.’ So just the Energizer Bunny for us.”

The defense tied a season high with four sacks. The Bears held the Giants to a 5-for-14 rate on third down and 1-for-4 on fourth down, including the final play of the game, when the pressure forced an incomplete pass.

On the Giants’ final three drives, they ran 12 plays, got one first down, gained 22 yards and scored zero points. And this week, the Bears defense found a new difference-maker.

“How many games this year have been like that, you know what I mean?” Byard said. “That’s where the belief comes from. Now obviously we need to play better, within those first three quarters, 3 1/2 quarters. But at the end of the day, man, it’s just the 2025 Bears. It hasn’t been pretty at times. But … the belief (is) there, the turnovers have been there. We’ve been able to just make clutch plays.”




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