Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson is past repeating the same message. His team has consistently proven that it has not quite taken hold. So, Johnson is clearly and openly putting the onus on the players to address the matter before it is too late for the Bears.
The issue is penalties, of which the Bears tallied 11 for 79 yards in their 30-16 loss to the Ravens, who were without two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. Instead, it was Tyler “Snoop” Huntley who served the Bears a dose of reality for the Ravens.
Huntley is now 6-9 as a starter, with two of his wins coming against the Bears.
Bears HC Ben Johnson Issues Notice After Loss to Ravens
Ben Johnson Calls Out Bears’ Intensity
Johnson spoke to several mishaps on the Bears’ part during the game, but he noted that their penalties have stood out to him the most. They entered the contest with the eighth-most in the league. Moreover, have incurred more penalties than their opponent in each of their games this season.
“Give Baltimore a lot of credit. They came out and they played a physical brand of football, just like you would expect. They were hungry, they were determined. And truth be told, I expected a little bit more out of our squad to counter that on up. So, we fell short. It’s our first game in a while – really, all season – that we didn’t have a takeaway,” Johnson said postgame.
“When that happens, you really got to play a clean game, and we didn’t. We were double digits in penalties once again. We’re not scoring in the red zone. We couldn’t quite get off the field as often as we’d like on defense. So, they had some good drives. They, I think, time of possession-wise, they did a nice job controlling the game. And like I said, we fell short. But our guys, we’re going to get this thing cleaned up. I know they understand how important it is that we play cleaner as a team, and we complement each phase better than what we did today. And so, that’ll be our mission here this week.”
That was his opening statement.
Ben Johnson Puts Onus on Bears Leaders
When asked about how the offense gets back on track, Johnson again cited the penalties. He also said the team’s leaders must pick up the slack.
“I think you see flashes of some explosive plays, and some really good things happen. But the penalties, to me, is what stands out first and foremost. We still have some of the pre-snap issues, where there’s occasional not getting lined up quite right. There’s occasional not getting the motion quite right. And so, that stuff does, it adds up, and it hurts us. We get away with it occasionally, but it’s just not the way you win in this league,” Johnson said.
“I really put it on the leaders there in that locker room to get this ship going the right direction in that regard. Us coaches, we’ve been pounding that drum now for a while, and we haven’t gotten the results we wanted. So, it’s on the leaders here on this team to get us right.”
To a man, Bears players lauded Johnson’s staff for its attention to detail before the season.
That the first-year head coach is still delivering the same message eight weeks into the campaign is the biggest tell that there is a disconnect.
Bears Players Must Step Up
If there is an encouraging sign, it is that the players are hearing the message, even if they have not quite heeded it in full to this point of the season. Quarterback Caleb Williams (25 of 38, 285, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception) spoke to it postgame.
He also lamented their lack of success in the red zone.
They were at 50% on the season coming into Sunday’s tilt, and they went 1-for-3 against the Ravens, while Williams cited needing to learn to “stop the bleeding,” starting with himself.
“We gotta find a way to get an end zone, and we got to find a way to stop the bleeding when you start bleeding,” Williams said. “I think I can do a better job with that, helping out and leading these guys.”
Up next, Johnson, Williams, and the Bears will visit the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9.