CHICAGO (670 The Score) – The Bears coach who once famously took off his shirt in the postgame locker room left an impression this time for being hot under the collar.
"I was disappointed with the offense as a whole,” a perturbed Ben Johnson proclaimed Sunday after the Lions beat his Bears, 19-16, at Soldier Field on Jake Bates’ last-second 42-yard field goal.
The first time the Lions beat the Bears, 52-21 back on Sept. 14, embarrassed Johnson. This loss just annoyed him.
As agitated as Johnson has appeared all season after a loss, his square jaw and steely glare presaged his body language screaming irritation.
What was wrong with the Bears offense for the first three quarters in which Chicago went scoreless?
“That's a great question,” Johnson snapped.
Part of Johnson still might've been mad at himself for the decision he made on fourth-and-5 with the Bears holding the ball at their own 31-yard line with 1:55 left and the score tied at 16.
I asked Johnson if he considered going for it in that moment.
"Yes I did,” he answered.
Why didn't he?
"We had three timeouts and felt like we'd get the ball back,” Johnson said.
Indeed, that was the right call despite any misgivings Johnson might have had later. A coach desperate for victory goes for it – Lions counterpart Dan Campbell, for instance. A coach thinking big picture punts.
The No. 2-seeded Bears wanted to win Sunday, but they didn't necessarily need to win. Had Johnson gone for it and failed – turning the ball over to the Lions, already in field-goal range – he all but would've assured a loss and created doubts about his game management a week before his playoff debut as a head coach. There would be no defense for gambling and losing like that.
Instead, Johnson let his head overrule his gut and punted – and you can guess what happened next. The Lions needed six plays and 39 yards to move into field-goal range, and Bates sent the Soldier Field crowd of 57,036 home in a bad mood by kicking the game-winner.
The Lions can celebrate this in Cancun or their chosen vacation spot, because their season is over. The Bears, in stark contrast, still have every reason to think Super Bowl with a wild-card game against the Packers looming and the NFC's No.
2 seed intact.
This was a tough loss for the Bears. It also might serve as a blessing in disguise.
Nothing wrong with heading into the playoffs a little humbled and hungry.
From Johnson to quarterback Caleb Williams to several other veterans in the locker room, this defeat sharpened an edge that can help the Bears. Williams acknowledged the Bears lacked their usual intensity early – "I think we came out a little flat energy wise,” he said – which is something that's less likely to happen now.
This outcome was an attention-getter more than it was a difference-maker. It's good that the Bears are in bad moods the week before the playoffs, a much better situation than the quasi-celebration that followed a 42-38 defeat to the 49ers a week prior that made everyone overly giddy because of the offensive output.
Rest assured that complacency won't be a problem this week at Halas Hall for the Bears, the postgame message that replaced "good, better, best.”
"I let them know it was a new season,” Johnson said. "We need to go on a four-game winning steak, which we've done twice already this year.”
Funny thing is, that didn't sound as crazy as you think for a team that's lost two straight. Momentum means nothing in the NFL playoffs, partly because of how differently teams treat Week 18. In the postseason, the Bears offense just as easily could be the one that scored 38 against the 49ers as it could be the one that was blanked for three quarters Sunday. The NFC is up for grabs, and the Bears have home-field advantage through the divisional round, no small thing on Chicago's lakefront.
"We're going to get on a roll here starting this week,” Williams assured.
One exasperated media member asked me at halftime in the press box, with the Lions leading 13-0: "What is this Bears team?”
It’s a fair question, repeated in barrooms and living rooms all over Chicago as the Bears slogged through a scoreless first half against the Lions. The easy answer is obvious: It's an NFC North-winning, playoff-qualifying, Super Bowl-contending team.
It's a team that represents one of the biggest one-season transformations in the league. It's a team still capable of making noise in the postseason. It's a team with the solid coach-quarterback marriage that every viable playoff team needs. To consider two consecutive losses to end a turnaround season ample reason to question everything about this team or kill the buzz around the city seems hasty.
Only a year ago at the final home regular-season game, fans loudly urged the McCaskeys to "sell the team.'' Even after two straight losses, the Bears still look like a sound investment of your hope.
But, yes, the Bears’ soft defense was as hard to watch as their offense Sunday, with Chicago giving up 433 yards of offense to Detroit
The Lions offense had five drives that lasted at least nine plays and five minutes, with quarterback Jared Goff conducting a clinic in ball control. Goff completed 27 of 42 passes for 331 yards, one touchdown and a costly interception.
The Bears defense's bend-but-don't-break approach allowed Goff to settle for so many underneath routes, moving the chains and – as significantly – keeping the Chicago offense on the sideline. The Lions clearly concluded their offense had a better chance at cooling off a hot quarterback in Williams than their injured defense did.
Bears nickelback C.J. Gardner-Johnson endured a rough day trying to limit Amon Ra-St. Brown, the NFL's best slot receiver. St. Brown, who caught 11 passes for 139 yards, is the receiving equivalent of 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, a mismatch waiting to happen. Goff and the Lions exploited St. Brown's quickness advantage over Gardner-Johnson, doing nothing fancy in the passing game except run the quick slant as long as Gardner-Johnson was willing to concede inside leverage off the ball. The Bears’ lack of adjustments in the first half, especially, was baffling.
The core defensive issues require an offseason to fix, not a week or two. So to expect a dramatic difference in the playoffs would be naïve, but it's worth remembering that this same flawed defense still led the NFL in takeaways this season. That didn't happen accidentally. Even Sunday, Kevin Byard's late interception gave the Bears the ball back and a chance to win with 2:11 left.
On third-and-20 from the Bears’ 35-yard line, Goff forced a throw into coverage and linebacker T.J. Edwards deflected the pass intended for St. Brown. Byard plucked it out of the air.
"We can't afford to have a phase, one of our three phases play like we did today,” Johnson said.
And he wasn't referring to the defense.
Offensively, the same unit that easily moved the ball up and down the field against the 49ers one week earlier on the road struggled to sustain anything for three quarters. Part of it was the Lions playing keepaway, but part of it was the Bears lacking sharpness in the passing game and physicality on running plays.
"It's aggravating,” Williams said. "It's frustrating.”
On the seven-play, 65-yard scoring drive that finally got the Bears on the board, they mixed in runs with crisp passes that culminated with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Jahdae Walker. For Walker, it offered redemption after an earlier drop. For Williams, it allowed him to break Erik Kramer's 30-year-old, single-season franchise record for passing yards in a season at 3,838 – and a football city said alleluia.
Even though Williams said little afterward about it.
"That number is the number, and so be it,” he said respectfully.
The Bears’ ensuing 12-play, 88-yard touchdown drive to tie the game featured even more fourth-quarter exploits that are quickly becoming Williams-like characteristics. He's earning a reputation as a fourth-quarter comeback artist, not necessarily something you appreciated for the first three quarters but were grateful for over the final 15 minutes. That also will come in handy in the postseason.
Alas, he left the Lions too much time.
"We're starting fresh right now,” Johnson said.
Let the playoffs begin.
It's OK to remember that the fun already has.
David Haugh is the co-host of the Mully & Haugh Show from 5-10 a.m. weekdays on 670 The Score. Click here to listen. He also co-hosts The Chicago Lead and the Big Pro Football Show on weeknights on the Chicago Sports Network. Follow him on X @DavidHaugh.