Bears' Ben Johnson hints at major 'ebb and flow' change after dismal performance vs. Chiefs
Some of us - ahem - were concerned about this happening.
All the warm-and-fuzzy positivity and good vibes that were produced by Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears last weekend ... poof, gone. In an ugly first half in which Chicago's offense couldn't get untracked and fell into a 17-0 hole Friday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, Williams' one step forward was derailed by two steps back.
Bears' backup quarterback Tyson Bagent's late rally allowed the Bears and head coach Ben Johnson to win the battle. But is the offense back to losing the war?
"Offensively, the first two possessions was really sloppy football that has plagued us in and out of camp so far," Johnson said. "It is disappointing to me offensively for sure. I thought that we had worked our way out of that."
Like he did in 2024 in taking a league-high 68 sacks, Caleb held onto the ball too long. The timing of a jet sweep was off, leading to a botched hand-off and fumble in the backfield. Rookie tight end Colston Loveland committed a pre-snap penalty.
"If the first quarter was really any indication, it's not good enough, so we got to get better in a hurry," Johnson said. "Good news is we will be able to look at this tape and coach it up with our guys and I think it's out of our system hopefully for us going into the regular season."
In his first half of work, Williams finished a deceptive 11 of 15 for 113 yards and a touchdown. Most of that, however, came just before halftime when he connected three times with Rome Odunze including a 3-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 20-10.
By then, though, the alarms were already sounding. So troubled is Johnson by the performance that he hinted at scaling back the offense until Williams has a better grasp.
"To be honest with you, we might have to ebb and flow a little bit after that opening game," Johnson said. "Usually it'll take up until the bye week. I think it's placed at just the right time (Week 5) to really identify who we are and what we're going to be for the rest of the season."
That's quite the indictment only two weeks before the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
