Opener showed Bears head coach Ben Johnson is a rookie, too

During training camp, Ben Johnson said no one adjusts better than the Bears’ coaching staff.

His head-coaching debut, however, proved otherwise.

Offense, defense and special teams shared in the blame for the Bears’ 27-24 loss Monday to the Vikings. That extends to Johnson, too.

For all the optimism surrounding Johnson — and the salary the Bears paid to lure him from the Lions — he’s a rookie, too. That was evident as the game spiraled away from the Bears in the fourth quarter. In a span of 12 minutes, the Bears went from trying a field goal that would have given them a 14-point lead to trailing by 10.

When they left the field, many in the crowd at Soldier Field booed.

Johnson heard it.

‘‘I think that’s the beauty of this city,’’ he said Tuesday. ‘‘They love their sports. I embrace it. A big reason why I wanted to come here is because these people care. They want a good product. They’re desperate for a winner. And, really, we were all frustrated that, with a game like that, we didn’t come away with a win.’’

Trends that unfolded during the course of the game were alarming:

• The Bears were flagged for 12 penalties — more than in any game Matt Eberflus coached — that cost them 127 yards. Five came before the snap (four false starts and an illegal shift). The Bears spent all offseason preaching the importance of a clean pre-snap operation. It didn’t happen.

‘‘That’s just stuff that you can’t do if you want to have success in this league,’’ wide receiver Rome Odunze said.

• Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell found a way to get quarterback J.J. McCarthy unstuck. After posting a 16.7 passer rating in the third quarter, McCarthy posted a 149.5 rating in the fourth and became the first quarterback since 1985 to rally a team from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter in his NFL debut.

In the first three quarters, the Vikings ran 13 times for 41 yards. In the fourth quarter, they ran 13 times for 79.

‘‘They adjusted by running the ball well,’’ safety Jaquan Brisker said.

McCarthy took advantage by passing in short-yardage situations. He dropped back to throw eight times in the fourth quarter and needed five yards or fewer for a first down four times.

‘‘When you’re going against a good team, you can’t give them new life,’’ defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said.

• Quarterback Caleb Williams got worse as the game went on. He posted a 92.6 passer rating in the first quarter, an 83 in the second and a 50 in the third. He had a 39.8 and had been sacked twice in the fourth when the Bears got the ball trailing by 10 with 2:53 left.

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores blitzed less often than the Bears suspected, Johnson said, a testament to the defensive-line help the Vikings landed this offseason.

‘‘His adjustments really started early in the game,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘There was less pressure than what he is accustomed to doing.’’

If anything, Johnson’s play-calling was best when he didn’t have to adjust. The Bears’ scripted opening drive, which ended in a touchdown, was the best they looked all night.

• With the Bears trailing by three with 2:02 left, kicker Cairo Santos failed to boot the ball through the back of the end zone, as Johnson had instructed. That allowed the Vikings to return the ball, keeping the Bears from being able to stop the clock at the two-minute warning after first down.

In retrospect, Johnson said, he should have had Santos simply kick the ball out of bounds.

The Bears would have had an extra timeout, too, had Johnson not lost a challenge in the third quarter when he thought Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson had fumbled. Johnson thought he wasn’t down but said he should have listened to assistants on his headset who said otherwise.

‘‘I got influenced a little bit for the first time with the people around me,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ve just got to stay true to the process.’’