Johnson, Bears start off on wrong foot with disappointing loss to Vikings

The Ben Johnson era with the Chicago Bears started on the wrong foot on Monday night at Soldier Field.

The Bears blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter as the team reverted back to its old habits from last season’s 5-12 season. Quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense couldn’t find a groove after its opening touchdown drive while the defense and special teams came up with some costly mistakes at the end.

Here are the five big takeaways from a disappointing loss to start the season.

Defense can’t keep up the pressure

The Bears’ defense seemed like it was in for a long night when the team announced their inactive players before Monday’s game. Chicago announced it would play without three starters: cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon as well as linebacker T.J. Edwards.

That didn’t seem to be a problem at the start.

Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen pressured Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy in his first start in the NFL right from the beginning and that caused plenty of issues. Minnesota picked up its initial first down on its third drive and only managed six points in the first three quarters. Cornerback Nahshon Wright even returned an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter.

“They kept us in the ballgame,” Johnson said.

But then Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and McCarthy got the best of the Bears defense in the fourth quarter. McCarthy looked more comfortable and made smart, efficient throws to move the ball down the field. Minnesota scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Bears had no response.

“We just got to keep pressure on them,” Bears defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “When you want to beat good teams, you can’t give them new life.”

Running struggles

The Bears entered Monday’s game with questions about how they would run the ball with their injuries in the running back room. They never really found an answer.

Williams led the team with 58 rushing yards, all off of scrambles, while D’Andre Swift finished the game with 53 yards off 17 carries. Wide receiver DJ Moore earned three carries and picked up 8 yards.

Chicago only had two running backs play Monday after injuries have hurt the room over the past few weeks. Rookie Kyle Monangai was cleared to play Monday after dealing with a hamstring injury, but Roschon Johnson was inactive with a foot injury. The Bears didn’t activate Brittain Brown from the practice squad, and Monangai didn’t earn a carry.

“The running game, I didn’t feel the rhythm as I was calling it,” Ben Johnson said. “There was some good and some not quite so good. It didn’t seem like we were all on the same page the whole time, like I said, that’s a reflection on me as much as anybody else.”

Undisciplined play

At the start of training camp, Johnson made news when he threw the first-team offense out of a play because he didn’t like the way the unit came out of the huddle. The group continued to struggle with pre-snap penalties even as camp progressed.

Those issues came up in Monday’s opener in crucial moments. The Bears offense was called for four false-start penalties, two of which were called on right guard Jonah Jackson. Two offensive penalties derailed a drive at the start of the fourth quarter that led to kicker Cairo Santos missing a 50-yard kick.

“I wish I knew,” tight end Cole Kmet said about the penalties. “Unfortunately that’s been a little bit of a theme for us throughout the preseason and training camp, and obviously showed its head here today a little bit. So we just gotta practice harder, we gotta be better, and we gotta continue to work on those things.”

The penalties weren’t exclusive to the offense. The defense had some penalties as well, including pass interference penalties by both cornerbacks Tyrique Stevenson and Nahshon Wright that led to Vikings scores.

Chicago finished the game with 12 penalties for 127 yards.

Cairo Santos misses some kicks

One of the off-season storylines surrounding the Bears was whether the team should change kickers. Although Santos had been one of the most consistent kickers in the team’s history, there were calls to see whether the team could upgrade at the position.

Those calls will likely continue after Monday’s game.

Santos missed a 50-yard field goal wide right at the start of the fourth quarter that would’ve given the Bears a 20-6 lead. He then failed to kick the ball out of the back of the end zone when the team trailed 27-24 with 2:02 left in the game.

Minnesota returned the ball and took away the Bears’ chance to use the two-minute warning stoppage. The Bears only had one timeout left and got the ball back with nine seconds left in the game.

“I definitely felt like I didn’t help the team in every opportunity that I got today,” Santos said. “That’s always going to bother me.”

Johnson goes for it

While many knew Johnson would bring his unique offensive playcalling with him when the Bears hired him, some wondered whether he would be as aggressive as his former head coach in Detroit Dan Campbell.

Johnson answered some of those questions Monday. He decided to go for it on one of his first fourth-down opportunities, but the Bears failed to execute on the play when Williams overthrew a ball.

Johnson also decided to challenge a play in the third quarter when he thought the Vikings fumbled the ball. The play was not overturned and the Bears lost a timeout, which could’ve helped at the end of the game.