Chicago Bears head coach, Ben Johnson was not a happy camper on Friday evening, after witnessing the team edge out a victory, 29-27, over the Kansas City Chiefs in the preseason finale.
Quarterback, Caleb Williams played the first quarter of the game, before being subbed out for newly-extended backup, Tyson Bagent.
Williams went 11/15 for 113 yards and a touchdown. A stat line that, on the face of it, would have kept head coach, Ben Johnson, reasonably content. Especially as it was followed up with Bagent going 20/28 for 212 yards and 3 TDs.
However, the quality of play comes down to far more than just the final stat line – and on this occasion, not in a good way.
Ben Johnson Believes Bears Played ‘Really Sloppy Football’ On Offense
“Offensively,” Ben Johnson remarked after the game, “the first two possessions was really sloppy football that has plagued us in and out of camp so far, and unfortunately that’s what we got here tonight.”
“It is disappointing to me offensively for sure,” Johnson contined, “I thought that we had worked our way out of that…If the first quarter was really any indication, it’s not good enough, so we got to get better in a hurry. 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. We got to make sure that we start faster on offense and on defense.”
Part of the frustration will have come from the opening two drives, which saw Williams lead the team to consecutive punts – including a play on the second drive in which the Bears’ budding franchise QB was unable to get the ball out for a huge six seconds before being hit by All-Pro Chiefs tackle, Chris Jones.
What Is The Upside For The Bears’ Offense In 2025?
The most frustrating thing for Johnson – and also Williams – is that they both know that the ceiling for Chicago’s offense could legitimately be the highest in the already-stacked NFC North.
A starting possible trio of DJ Moore, 2024 ninth overall pick, Rome Odunze, and talented rookie slot receiver, Luther Burden III, could be an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses to deal with – if they all manage to put it together.
Combine that with a dual tight end threat of Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet, and proven competency in the backfield with both Roschon Johnson and D’Andre Swift; not to mention the vast improvements made on the interior of the offensive line; and in theory, Chicago has all the capabilities of easily being a playoff-caliber, top-10 offense.
Whether Johnson can harness the potential emitted by the former first overall pick, and his now stacked surrounding cast, remains to be seen. But the one thing to be sure about is that Johnson will not stand for offensive mediocrity.
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