In his head-coaching debut, Bears head coach Ben Johnson saw his offense fizzle after a fast start, and his defense blow a fourth-quarter lead. He pointed the finger at himself afterward.
“Obviously a disappointing way to start the season,” Johnson said. “To have a 17-6 lead and then see it go the way it did there in the fourth quarter — we said going in to Week One that the team that made the least number of mistakes would win the game, and unfortunately we were on the wrong side of that. We made too many there late in the game, myself included. There were a number of things that I could have done better, a number of things that a number of guys could have done better. When you look down at the stat sheet and see 12 penalties, that’s got to get cleaned up in a hurry, and yet we’ve been saying that all training camp as well.”
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams ran for a touchdown at the end of a fantastic first drive, but he did not play well after that first drive. Johnson acknowledged the offense needs to get better and also blamed himself for not getting Williams more help with the running game.
“The running game just — I didn’t feel the rhythm as I was calling it,” Johnson said. “There was some good and some not quite so good. It didn’t seem like we were on the same page. That’s a reflection of me as much as anything else.”
Now the Bears have a short week to get ready for a trip to Detroit, where Johnson’s work as an offensive coordinator made him a hot head-coaching candidate. Johnson needs his team to make a lot fewer mistakes to avoid an 0-2 start.
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