As the Las Vegas Raiders lined up for a potential 54-yard game-winning field goal Sunday afternoon, Chicago’s cornerback Josh Blackwell got his jump lunged with his outstretched arms and blocked the potential game-winning field goal with 38 seconds left.

It was an all-too-familiar sight for the Chicago Bears, who last season lost seven one-score games in nearly every fashion possible. But it was the scouting intel from long snapper Scott Daly who gave Blackwell an advantage.

Leading up to Sunday’s game, Daly had hinted that the Raiders’ long snapper, Jacob Bobenmoyer, regularly moved the ball before snapping it. This gave Blackwell an edge, and after getting close to a block on the first two extra point attempts, he finally got the jump on the last play of the game, which gave the Bears their second win of the season.

“It’s an incredible win, and that’s just a testament to the team we have,” Blackwell said. “I think we stacked a good week of practice, and we kind of got this quote-unquote monkey off our back that we’re not the ‘same old Bears’, we’re different.”

After starting the season 0-2, Chicago, which earned its first win last week, rallied for a Week 4 win and now sits 2-2 on the season, heading into the team’s bye week. Following the game, the consensus feeling among the players and in the locker room postgame was a boost of confidence and a potential culture-changing win.

It wasn’t the cleanest game Chicago put together, but one in which they did enough to keep themselves in the game and put themselves in position to win late.

“I’m proud of our guys, Head Coach Ben Johnson said. “They came through for us. We’re building something special here, and I think they’re feeling it, just the belief they have in each other, the belief they have in this coaching staff, I thought it really showed though.”

Chicago had three takeaways in the first half of Sunday’s game, which resulted in only three offensive points. Quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense found no rhyme and were unable to execute with the field position the defense provided.

Williams couldn’t get away from Maxx Crosby, who batted down three passes in the first half, intercepted Williams, and forced a fumble. In the first quarter, Williams was 2-for-7 while averaging 1.6 yards per attempt.

Another issue that has plagued Chicago through the first four weeks is the pre-snap penalties — six of them on offense — which resulted in 60 yards on Sunday, driving momentum backwards. Through four games this season, the Bears have been flagged 34 times for 278 yards.

Trailing 14-9 at halftime, a third interception from the defense from cornerback Tyrique Stevenson gave Chicago the ball for the fourth time in Raiders territory. This led to a 27-yard passing touchdown from Caleb Williams to Rome Odunze, giving Chicago its first lead of the game.

“I thought we came in at halftime and we hit that reset button,” Johnson said. “That’s what we talked about, take a deep breath, and let’s come out and play for 30 minutes and find a way to win.”

But it was the breakout game for first-round rookie running back Ashton Jeanty, who had all three of the Raiders’ touchdowns Sunday. Jeanty had two through-the-air and one on-the-ground catches. With 21 carries, Jeanty rushed for 138 yards, averaging 6.6 a carry.

Chicago’s run defense was allowing chunk play after chunk play. On four carries for backup Raheem Mostert, he had 62 rushing yards.

It was the opposite for Chicago, which has yet to find consistency on the ground. D’Andre Swift carried the ball 14 times for 38 yards on a 2.7 average rate per carry. With a total of 69 rushing yards, the Bears were still able to get enough from the rushing game late.

Chicago’s defense, with 6:45 left in the quarter, stopped the Las Vegas defense from scoring a field goal, and trailed 24-19.

Just before Williams and the offense took the field looking for the lead, Johnson shared a moment with his young quarterback.

“I remember talking to Caleb before he took the field,” Johnson said. “I said, ‘This is what you’re built for,’ and these are the moments that he thrives in the most.” 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.

Chicago would put together an 11-play, 69-yard drive where Williams went 4-for-5 with 42 yards, and it ended with a Swift rushing touchdown from two yards out as Swift placed his finger against his facemask to silence the Raiders crowd. Bears attempting to go for two failed, and they led 25-24 with 1:34 remaining in the game.

With a significant kick return from Dylan Laube, set up quarterback Geno Smith at the Las Vegas 42. Moving the ball to the Chicago 39-yard line, with 42 seconds left on 3rd and 2, Bears safety Kevin Byard, who had two interceptions in the game, came up with a tackle for loss on Jeanty, forcing a fourth down. The 54-yard field goal attempt, which got blocked, was the result.

The bye week comes at an opportune time for the Bears, who have been short-handed due to injuries on the defensive end and recently with members of their offensive line. Chicago won’t be back in action until Monday, Oct. 13, against the Washington Commanders. Injuries aren’t the only thing the Chicago needs to improve; the running game is something Johnson has been frustrated with, as well as the makeup of the offensive line.

Sunday’s win was a momentum builder, and it came under a Johnson who, in the past, Chicago had found a way to lose. It’s a different script than in years past, and one the Bears can build off of. Chicago didn’t panic when faced with a 0-2 record and has brought itself back to 2-2. Only Chicago and the Kansas City Chiefs are the only teams to start 0-2 and get back to .500.

“It was an ugly win, but it was a win at the end of the day,” Swift said. “We know we got some stuff that we need to clean up, we need to play better complementary football, especially with the defense doing what they’re doing early on in the game, getting takeaways, we need to capitalize better on those. But when you win on the road, and you gotta come back and put a drive together, it shows something.”

Sunday’s win also put things into perspective about how far the Bears have come from OTAs to training camp, and now the first quarter of the season.

“I think being able to portray the belief that, ‘Guys, this is all we got, it’s all we need. We’re not in a favorable position,’” Williams said. “We’re down. It’s all 11 of us on the field, and we got to go do a job. The belief, the trust, the hard work that we put in, those are the moments that you dream about. So, being able to have those moments and come through is important, for one, the confidence. Especially in the moment where it’s not favorable position. You’re away, you’re, down, you got to go win the game.

“So, it’s a confidence builder, it’s a culture builder for us,”