(670 The Score) Two games in, Chicago is still waiting for the Ben Johnson bounce.
This is getting uncomfortably uncomfortable.
The Bears looked as lousy as they were before Johnson arrived in a 52-21 loss to the Lions on Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit, a meltdown in Motown as embarrassing as any suffered by Johnson's predecessors. If the Bears' season-opening defeat to the Vikings at Soldier Field that included several coaching miscues humbled Johnson, this one more likely shook him.
This one reminded, if not revealed, just how wide the gap remains between the top of the NFC North and the team that famously wants to take it. This one exposed the Bears' roster flaws, their draft mistakes, their shoddy tackling, their sloppy attention to detail and their overall inadequacy. This one was bad enough to make Johnson want to ask Lions coach Dan Campbell for his old job back.
Though give Johnson credit for not sounding as overwhelmed as his team looked.
"It's not demoralizing at all," Johnson told reporters postgame. "We have to play better. When we play good teams, we've got to capitalize on every opportunity that comes your way. We didn't."
By the end of the blowout, with about seven minutes left, Bears backup Tyson Bagent had replaced Caleb Williams at quarterback, but so many other bigger concerns existed that nobody dared to consider a quarterback controversy. There isn't one now or on the horizon. Rest assured, Bagent came in to get Williams out of harm's way more than give him a nudge.
"In that situation, it sucks (that) your guys are out on the field and you're not," said Williams, who was 19-of-30 for 207 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. "That's frustrating."
Noisy conditions challenged Williams to keep his composure. He displayed uncanny arm talent on occasion and inexperience that led to hasty decisions. The interception came when Williams tried to do too much, rolling out of the pocket and trying to make a Superman play that made for an easy pick. Postgame, Williams talked about reflecting on all his mistakes as he watched Bagent run the offense.
"In that situation, I'm thinking, 'How can I help this offense?'" Williams said.
On a list of issues, in case you're wondering, quarterback play ranks well below other pressing matters.
Let's start with defense, which apparently was optional Sunday. In fairness, the Bears lost defensive leaders in cornerback Jaylon Johnson and linebacker T.J. Edwards to injuries during the game, but even with them, the Lions did whatever they wanted. The Lions offense operated with efficiency and explosiveness, just the way it did when Johnson was calling the plays in Detroit for the past three seasons. The Bears surrendered 511 total yards and failed to sack Jared Goff, who was 23-of-28 for 334 yards, five touchdowns and a 156.0 passer rating. For the record, 158.3 is considered a perfect quarterback rating and Goff was nearly flawless against a Bears pass rush that never looked in a hurry.
Lions running backs delivered more punishment than they absorbed. Jahmyr Gibbs had 12 carries for 94 yards and David Montgomery added 11 carries for 57 yards, with both runners exploding through the line of scrimmage.
Bears linebackers stuck to blockers like Velcro. Yards came in bunches as running lanes opened like an expressway after rush hour.
In their last five quarters, the Bears have given up 73 points and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has aged decades. Allen brought a scheme to Chicago that was considered to be attacking and aggressive, but lately the best descriptors are soft and lax.
What's going on with the secondary?
Once considered the Bears' strongest position group on paper, the secondary now looks like their most vulnerable. Talk about backpedaling — since Nahshon Wright's 74-yard pick-six against the Vikings on Monday, Bears defensive backs have taken big steps in the wrong direction. Goff picked on cornerback Tyrique Stevenson early and often. Wright showed up too late with regularity. Strong safety Jaquan Brisker can return to being an impact player any time now, OK? And safety Kevin Byard was noticeable for all the wrong reasons against the Lions. How did Amon-Ra St. Brown catch three touchdowns and Jameson Williams average 54 yards on two catches? However they wanted.
Emotionally, the Bears never seemed to recover after Isaac TeSlaa made an unbelievable one-handed 29-yard catch down the sideline that should've ended the first half. He was down by contact inbounds, but the officials mistakenly ruled he had gotten out out of bounds. Instead of the clock likely running out as the Lions would've had to rush to the line of scrimmage with 16 seconds remaining and no timeouts, the clock stopped. A video review eventually confirmed TeSlaa was down inbounds, but the automatic 10-second run-off still left the Lions with 6 seconds on the clock — enough time for Detroit to score a touchdown on a four-yard pass to St. Brown.
Offensively, the Bears couldn't keep up either.
They scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the second straight game, but inconsistency and silly penalties plagued the the offense.
Job one for Johnson is addressing the offensive line. Sound familiar? What year is this again?
So much was made in the offseason how the Bears had invested heavily into rebuilding the interior of the line by acquiring center Drew Dalman, left guard Joe Thuney and right guard Jonah Jackson. So far, so bad. Dalman had another holding penalty. Jackson committed another penalty. And yet the Bears' offensive tackles might have been worse, with Darnell Wright getting beaten regularly on the right side and Braxton Jones struggling on the left. In his third year, Wright — the 10th overall pick in 2023 — must assert himself more than he has in the first two games.
All told, the offensive line performed poorly enough to consider the unit the most disappointing aspect so far.
It certainly didn't move the pile enough for Johnson to try two straight quarterback sneaks. Yet the man known as one of the most creative play-callers in the NFL called the most conservative play in football on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 early in the second quarter, and the Lions held.
Can Johnson the head coach give Johnson the play-caller permission to use his imagination again?
The Bears offense definitely needs it.
Perhaps what the Bears require even more from Johnson now, after an 0-2 start with the Cowboys coming to town Sunday, is leadership.
Williams referred to a "powerful" message that Johnson delivered to players in the locker room, an urgent tone he must maintain all week.
It's easy to be confident and call out rival coaches when you're the NFL's fair-haired boy signed for $13 million a year to save a franchise. It gets a little harder when the first two losses of your tenure suggest the job might be harder than Johnson made it sound.
Sure looks that way.
The Bears' inactive list Sunday included two second-round picks from the 2025 draft (offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo and defensive tackle Shemar Turner)- and a third-round miss from 2024 (offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie). The Bears' first two draft picks from this year — tight end Colston Loveland and receiver Luther Burden III — were non-factors Sunday. The running back situation still lacks a complement to De'Andre Swift. And general manager Ryan Poles could've helped Allen's defense even more by adding a veteran pass rusher in the preseason.
Nothing makes a coach look smarter than talent, and the Bears are still lacking in that area.
All Johnson can do is be the same guy every day, even after the longest of ones.
"We're not going to hang our heads and get down on anything," Johnson said. "It's one game."
Even if it felt much longer than that.
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. Follow him on X @DavidHaugh.