(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
The offseason has come and gone, and reality is now settling in for this Bears team. The moves made by general manager Ryan Poles, starting with the hiring of former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as head coach, have been heralded by many a Bears fan around the globe.
The Bears won the offseason…yet again.
The problem with this way of thinking is that you are often left feeling deflated when the season actually gets going. Why? Well, the reality is that while things can look great on paper, they still need time to come together on the field. And the Bears faced that harsh reality early in the 2025 season with a disappointing 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in a game they led 17-6 to start the fourth quarter.
Chicago collapsed. And it's clear that they need to pay better.
"Obviously, disappointing way to start the season there for us," Johnson said after the game. "Have a 17-6 lead, see it go the way it did there in the fourth quarter. We said going into Week 1 that the team that would make the fewest mistakes would win the game. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of that. We made too many there late in the game, myself included."
There were several factors that contributed to this loss. Inaccurate throws, penalties, coaching decisions, and general execution. But should we have anticipated these issues in advance of the game? The short answer is yes, but let's look at it a bit more in-depth.
This is the first competitive game that this offense has played together, and while reports indicated a tough camp environment that really put players through their paces, it doesn't replace the challenges of a real game. Joe Thuney for example, hadn't even suited up for a pre-season game this year.
For Caleb Williams, this is his third play caller and second offensive playbook in two seasons. While the off-season is long, it still may not provide enough time to fully acclimate to a new system. A system that many have described as complicated, making particular reference to its long verbiage.
The issues for Caleb don't stop there though, as regardless of the complexities of the system and the intricacies of each play call, he was simply just inaccurate with his distribution of the ball. That cannot happen.
The offense was clearly scripted the first couple of drives and the Bears had some success, scoring on their first drive, something we haven't seen in a long time. But as the game went on and the plays were less scripted, we saw the hesitancies and the difficulties arise.
"It comes down to being able to go out there and be together, all 11, on the field doing our job at one time as soon as the ball is snapped," Williams said. "When the time comes, either the ball is thrown to a receiver, we run the ball, whatever the case may be, the ball's in my hand, once the ball disappears from my hand, I deliver it to wide receivers, time for them to go make a play, hand it off, time for him to make a play. If it's in my hand, time to make a play. Everyone has to do their 1/11th, including me, and I believe we'll be able to execute the plays that are called."
We all know the fine margins between winning and losing as Bears fans, and you need to have success with the things that you can control. Williams will have plenty to chew on heading into next Sunday at the Lions.
I do have to wonder how much Williams and the rest of the team have reacted to a certain article that was conveniently released just days before the Bears opening game. While the content of the piece may or may not be accurate, the players are human, and inevitably, they will react to things just the same as the rest of us. I'll say no more on that.
One of the biggest factors that some people seem to overlook is the fact that this was Johnson's first-ever game as a head coach. He is also a rookie and Monday showed just how quickly a game can turn.
"I think you certainly feel it when you're on the sideline there," Johnson said. "You got it moving, got it going, then all of a sudden it starts going backwards. Negative plays are happening, whether it's penalties or intentional grounding, things of that nature. Yeah, I mean, it cost us some points big-time."
If we are all honest, it wasn't a stellar debut for Johnson either. There are some questions over personnel use, play calling, use of challenge flags, and decisions to not "settle" for field goals in a close contest.
I've said for weeks that we need to temper expectations with this offense. It will come together; the pieces are there, it's just going to take some time and, more importantly, some patience.
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