9 hours ago 2

Ben Johnson admits mistakes in Bears collapse vs. Vikings, including Hockenson challenge, not kicking ball out of bounds

Ben Johnson's head coaching debut with the Bears was one to remember — just not for the right reasons in Chicago.

The Bears looked in control of Monday's game against the rival Minnesota Vikings with a two-possession lead in the fourth quarter. But they allowed the Vikings and first-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy to rally from a 17-6 deficit for a 27-24 win to stun the Soldier Field crowd that was previously primed to celebrate a Week 1 win.

It was a collapse made possible in part by multiple miscues. On Monday, Johnson spoke candidly with media about what he would liked to have done differently in his first game as a head coach.

'I didn't think I called a particularly great game'

Johnson, who earned the Bears job thanks in large part to his play-scheming and play-calling prowess as the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, was not happy with how he called Monday's game. Specifically, he said that he didn't adjust well to Minnesota's focus on pass coverage over pressure under defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

"I didn't think I called a particularly great game," Johnson said. "I could have adjusted a little bit better to the lack of pressure that Flo was giving us. And so I can do a better job there."

Bears fizzled after hot start

Chicago's offense got off to a great start. The Bears scored an opening-drive touchdown after failing to do so all of last season. They capped the drive with the first rushing touchdown of quarterback Caleb Williams' career.

Williams looked strong early as he evaded pressure and made plays with his legs and his arm while completing his first 10 pass attempts. But Chicago's offense went stagnant as the game wore on. The Bears didn't score another offensive touchdown until late in the fourth quarter, and they punted seven times.

After his 10-for-10 start, Williams finished the game completing 21 of 35 passes for 210 yards with one passing touchdown in addition to his opening-drive rushing score. He took two drive-killing sacks in the second half after taking none before halftime.

Johnson owns clock-management miscues

Despite the late collapse, the Bears still had a chance to mount a rally of their own after cutting Minnesota's lead to 27-24 with a touchdown with 2:02 remaining on the clock.

But they were just down to one timeout at that point, which allowed Minnesota to kill all but 9 seconds of the remaining game clock before the Bears took possession again. At that point, the Bears were left to resort to desperation tactics that did not succeed.

Johnson pointed to two spots where the Bears could have preserved more time for that final drive. The first is a failed challenge that Johnson would liked to have had back.

Johnson told reporters that he declined advice from his coaching booth against challenging a play in which Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson lost control of the ball after a catch when linebacker Noah Sewell punched it out.

Hockenson's knee was down when Sewell dislodged the ball, and he was ruled down by contact on the field. Johnson challenged, hoping that the call would be overturned and ruled a fumble and a turnover.

It was not.

While there's some ambiguity in the NFL rulebook over whether the ball is considered part of the ball carrier — Sewell touched the ball but didn't touch Hockenson before dislodging it — the call on the field stood. Officials confirmed that Hockenson was down, and the Bears were charged a timeout because of the failed challenge.

"A timeout in the second half, those things are very valuable," Johnson said of the lost timeout. "Having that at the end of the game would have been huge for us.'

'I should have kicked it out of bounds'

The Bears also had a chance to effectively manufacture a timeout late in the game that they didn't.

After scoring the late touchdown, the Bears kicked off with 2:02 remaining. A kickoff without a return would have kept the clock at 2:02, a scenario that would have functionally produced a timeout by forcing the Vikings to run a play from scrimmage before the 2-minute warning.

A kick out of bounds would have induced a penalty that would have given the Vikings the ball at their own 40-yard line. It also would have guaranteed that no time would run off the clock before the Vikings ran a play.

The Bears instead opted to attempt to kick it out of the back of the end zone, which would have resulted in a touchback to the 35-yard line while also preserving time. But kicker Cairo Santos didn't have the leg to kick it through the end zone, and the Bears returned the kick and ran the clock below 2 minutes.

"At the end of the game, felt like we could kick it out of the back," Johnson said Monday. "We weren’t able to get that done. In hindsight, I should have kicked it out of bounds.”

Johnson will carry those lessons to another tough NFC North test in his second game as an NFL head coach. Chicago takes on Johnson's former Lions on the road in Week 2.

Read Entire Article