The Chicago Bears walked out of Atlanta with a 31-23 win Sunday, and for most of the afternoon, it looked like they were going to embarrass the Falcons on their own field.
Caleb Williams was excellent. Kyler Gordon terrorized Atlanta's backfield. Chicago built a 24-point lead and appeared headed for a comfortable afternoon.
Then things got unnecessarily interesting.
Lost somewhere between Williams' impressive return and Atlanta's late comeback was a number Ben Johnson probably won't enjoy discussing this week.
Twelve penalties. 133 yards.
That's an awful lot of free real estate to hand an opponent.
Bears' penalty problem nearly overshadows impressive victory
Chicago didn't need much help beating Atlanta. Williams completed 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards, and the defense spent much of the afternoon making Michael Penix Jr. miserable.
Yet the Bears kept finding ways to complicate things.
The 133 penalty yards were Chicago's highest single-game total since 2016. Think about that. Nearly a decade has passed since the Bears last surrendered that much ground without an opponent having to earn it.
There were holding calls that wiped out productive plays. Rookie tight end Colston Loveland was flagged for offensive pass interference, taking another gain off the board.
And then there was Jahdae Walker.
With Chicago leading comfortably in the fourth quarter, Walker was ejected after head-butting Atlanta's Chris Blair during a kickoff.
What exactly was the upside there?
The Bears were in complete control. There was no reason to give Atlanta additional field position, let alone lose a player over something that served absolutely no purpose.
That's the sort of mistake Johnson should be addressing before anybody starts celebrating too much.
Chicago had been cleaning up these mistakes
Here's what makes the penalty total even more irritating.
In the three games leading up to Atlanta, Chicago had been flagged just 13 times for 99 yards combined.
Sunday, the Bears nearly matched that penalty count in one game.
It's difficult to explain that kind of reversal, particularly when Chicago spent much of the afternoon controlling the football and dictating how the game was played.
The Falcons managed only 257 net yards. Chicago possessed the ball for more than 40 minutes.
Those numbers should have produced a blowout.
Instead, Atlanta scored 16 unanswered points after falling behind 31-7. Suddenly, a game that looked finished required another defensive stop.
Fortunately for Chicago, Gordon delivered one.
His strip-sack of Penix effectively slammed the door on Atlanta's comeback. Without that play, the conversation surrounding this victory might have been considerably different.
Ben Johnson cannot afford another afternoon like this
The Bears won't have much time to clean things up. New England comes to Chicago on Thursday night, giving Johnson a short week to address the penalties.
Nobody expects a team to play four quarters without committing a mistake. Holding calls happen. So do false starts and occasional defensive penalties.
But 12 flags for 133 yards?
That's not something Chicago should simply shrug off because Williams played well enough to overcome it.
The Bears are 4-2. Their quarterback is healthy, their defense just produced another impressive performance, and there's plenty to like about where this team stands.
Still, Johnson has a legitimate reason to be frustrated.
Chicago spent most of Sunday beating Atlanta. For stretches, it also seemed determined to make the Falcons' job a little easier.
The Bears got away with it this time.
They shouldn't count on being so fortunate again.
| More Bears on DaWindyCity |
Add us as a preferred source on Google