Bears offense shines, but Johnson focuses on finishing and fixing lapses

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 2 hours ago

CHICAGO - The Chicago Bears’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals this past Sunday was perhaps one of the best and exciting Bears games of all time. Chicago’s offense put up 47 points, including a last-minute touchdown by rookie tight end Colston Loveland.

Nonetheless, head coach Ben Johnson was not entirely satisfied.

“We had a lot of opportunities there between our defense finding a stop, between special teams recovering the onside kick and then on offense, we had a four-minute opportunity and we went three-and-out and so, it’s everybody,” Johnson said. “We got to do a better job.”

This game marked the second time this season that Chicago’s defense had given up at least 40 points, although it was the first time the Bears had come out with a victory after allowing so many points.

While the Bengals ultimately finished the game with 42 points, Johnson explained the defense actually held Cincinnati’s dynamic receiver duo in check for most of the game.

“I think the next step for our growth is, as a team, is to start closing these things out a little bit earlier in the game,” Johnson said. “You look at it and I know the scoreboard says 42 points. I know that we allowed 35 on defense. But, with just two over minutes left in the fourth quarter, we had only allowed 20 points on defense. So, had we handled as a team the last part of the fourth quarter the right way, I think we would have felt a lot better about our defensive performance.”

With defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo suffering a season-ending achilles injury, Chicago elected to trade for defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka from the Cleveland Browns. The Bears also received a 2026 seventh-round pick and gave the Browns a 2026 sixth-round pick.

This move fits with Johnson’s philosophy that you can never have too many pass rushers.

“You can never have too many pass rushers. You can never have too many cover players in the back end either. So, that’s how I’ve always felt since I’ve been in this league,” Johnson said. “I know (general manager) Ryan (Poles) and his crew, they’ve been doing their due diligence all throughout the fall (to) make sure that we’re turning over every stone to make sure that if there’s a way we can improve this roster, we will do that.”

Through nine weeks of the NFL season, the Bears are 5-3 after having an early bye week. While they technically rank third in the NFC North, they also rank eighth in the conference.

In Chicago’s next game against the New York Giants on Sun. Nov. 9 (Noon / FOX), they have a shot to move up in the division.

“We’re right in the mix of it. The message to our guys going out of the bye week was we had to find a way to win three out of the next four and we’ve done that and because of that, we’re sitting in a place about halfway through the season (where) we’re 5-3 and that’s the parity of the NFL,” Johnson said. “Each and every year, it goes down to the wire and so, there’s a lot at stake. We can go any number of which ways here the second half of the season and I think it’s something our guys are going to get pretty excited about here. So, I’m pleased with where the team is from a mindset perspective. You certainly look at the division. This is, in my opinion, one of the toughest if not toughest division of football. I felt that way for a couple years now and I think when you look at all four of these teams, I think (any) team could win this thing.”