The Chicago Bears dropped to 3-2 after this past week's 31-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers. One that was set up by an ill-fated Ben Johnson decision that allowed Green Bay to take early control of the game and doomed any hopes that an upset could be accomplished with Caleb Williams still on the shelf. Putting Tyson Bagent in the starting lineup against Jonathan Gannon's defense, and doing so without a quick hook is a mistake that cost Chicago.
It made far more sense to put in Case Keenum, a veteran presence to settle the offense and an experienced starter who dismantled a respected Philadelphia defense two weeks prior. The Bears instead rolled with the younger Bagent, a decision that is only defensible if you pull the backup the moment it becomes clear he isn't getting the job done.
Johnson deserves a high level of credit for pushing all of the right buttons and finding ways to win two games without Williams in the lineup. However, there is no question that Sunday was a step in the wrong direction, a rare fumble from Johnson leaving the Bears in a bad position and falling a bit further behind the surprise NFC North leading Minnesota Vikings.
The head coach made the road more difficult as well with his long history of trash talk and clear distaste for rival head coach Matt LaFleur. Green Bay was clearly always going to give Chicago their best shot, leaving the need for Johnson to have a quick hook for Bagent or to start a veteran more likely to keep the Bears steady.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson set Chicago up for rare failure with Week 5 quarterback management
Johnson deserves immense credit for finding ways to win two difficult games without Williams, but this same energy means blaming Johnson for Sunday. Both the trash talk and poor quarterback management contributed to an ugly loss.
Fans could be quick to point to the fact that once Keenum was thrown into the game the results were still underwhelming. However, the stakes were far different as the veteran was put into a game far behind and without the ability to be prepared and have a clear series of plays in place as we saw work so well against Philadelphia.
While Sunday's failure was a frustration the overall time spent without Williams in the lineup can be deemed as a win. Being able to find a way to a pair of wins and hang in the NFC North picture exceeds expectations even if Johnson should own last week's clear mistakes.
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