Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson is acutely aware of the fact that his team had opportunities to win their Week 2 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, regardless of how things looked across four quarters of play.
After the game, Johnson spoke on his team's inability to overcome the conditions, the loss of quarterback Caleb Williams, and the general ability to execute.
"We had plenty of opportunities to find a way to win that game," Johnson said. "All three phases made game-changing plays, and we didn't quite take advantage of those opportunities and, as a result, we didn't end up winning it. But the guys fought hard. Proud of that. A lot of good learning tape for us to grow from. I think we'll be better for it in the long run."
While the
team was unable to force a turnover, they put together a couple of drives on offense, were far more stout on defense than in Week 1, and had a 30-yard punt return from rookie Zavion Thomas. Ultimately, though, they were unable to put more than their first quarter field goal on the scoreboard. That inability to score comes despite ending the game at Minnesota's 12-yard-line.
"I told the team that I was disappointed in our execution in those three plays," Johnson said. "And the reason is we've dedicated a lot of time and energy throughout the offseason, throughout training camp, walk-throughs, full-speed reps for many of those plays and what we need to do to have success there."
The sequence, in question, is the Bears' final three plays of Sunday's game. With second-and-2 from Minnesota's 12, Tyson Bagent threw a pair of incompletions (one of which narrowly avoided an interception by Isaiah Rodgers) before winding up sacked on fourth down to close it out. It was a tough sequence after Bagent and the offense had done well to move the ball down the field.
"We've detailed it," Johnson said. "Each man's assignment is really important, and we didn't quite execute the way that we were looking to do in, really, all three of those plays. And I thought we had some opportunities and some good looks that we could have been a little bit cleaner on."
The Bears' quarterback situation for Monday night against Philadelphia is entirely up in the air. Williams has his hamstring injury and Bagent has a concussion, leading to a chance that it could be Case Keenum under center against the Philadelphia Eagles. If Johnson has his way, the execution will look better regardless of who takes the snaps.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ben Johnson discussed Bears' missed opportunities vs. Vikings
