LAKE FOREST, Ill., — A big problem for the Chicago Bears through seven games has been penalties. They are 31st in the NFL in penalties per game at 9.1, and they have cost themselves some valuable yards and at times, points by committing these penalties.
With recurring mistakes like presnap penalties, lining up wrong on special teams, or other flags, it's a problem. It's a sign of a team that is playing undisciplined football, and head coach Ben Johnson sent a message to his team through the media following the Week 8 loss to Baltimore, where the Bears committed 11 penalties in the game. They are up to 64 penalties for 533 yards on the season.
"It's discipline. They're as fed up with it as everyone us in the building," Johnson said on Monday afternoon. "They understand it's just not what good football teams do, and I think they're going to take ownership of it. I think we're going to be just fine."
It's not only the number of penalties that's a problem, but the same mistakes that we are seeing each week. Of those 64 penalties committed, 26 have been presnap. Ouch.
This is a problem that dates back to training camp, where the head coach took matters into his own hands at times. Not only did he bring up the penalties to the media back then, but he stopped drills and had the team restart if they didn't line up right or had a false start.
Now that it's carried over not only to the regular season but through eight games, it's time for a change, or this season will go downhill in a hurry. Johnson spoke on those false starts as well.
"We've talked about it with the players," Johnson said. "We'll certainly make sure that they understand … especially now that we lost a game and penalties were a big culprit as to why we didn't have the success we wanted to, I think it really opens Pandora's box up here where, 'hey, all hands on deck here, we've got to get this thing fixed.' We've been harping on it as a coaching staff and when it results in a loss, I think it just magnifies the issue that was at hand."
Time will tell if the message was received loud and clear by the players in that locker room. For a team that Johnson said had shown good fundamentals last week at practice, the Week 8 game tape proves otherwise. And the direction of the 2025 season hangs in the balance.
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