Well, that was quite the reality check.
A week after hanging 59 points on Carolina, the Chicago Bears couldn't find the end zone against Minnesota. The Vikings walked away with a 9-3 victory, leaving Ben Johnson with considerably more questions than he had following the season opener.
Caleb Williams getting hurt certainly didn't help. But anyone suggesting his hamstring injury explains Sunday's offensive disaster apparently missed the first three quarters.
Chicago was already struggling. Williams' departure just made a bad afternoon worse.
Minnesota gave Ben Johnson a problem he couldn't solve
Brian Flores had no interest in watching the Bears repeat what they did to Carolina. Minnesota disrupted Chicago's timing, brought pressure and made Williams uncomfortable throughout the afternoon.
The Bears never really figured it out.
Williams finished 15 of 26 for 138 yards and an interception before leaving the game. Chicago actually outgained Minnesota 297-246, which makes the final score even harder to swallow.
Moving the football wasn't necessarily the problem. Doing anything useful once the Bears got into scoring position was another story.
Consider what happened just seven days earlier. D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai both cleared 100 rushing yards against Carolina. Williams scored twice on the ground, and Johnson's offense looked like it could do just about anything it wanted.
Against Minnesota, that same offense couldn't buy a touchdown.
The Vikings deserve credit. But Chicago shouldn't need everything to go perfectly just to put points on the board.
Chicago's offensive problems started before Williams got hurt
It's tempting to chalk Sunday's performance up to an injured quarterback and move along. Johnson doesn't have that luxury.
Williams was still on the field when Chicago spent three quarters failing to score a touchdown. The Bears struggled to sustain drives, couldn't consistently capitalize on favorable situations and repeatedly wasted opportunities.
That's a coaching problem as much as anything else.
Johnson earned his reputation in Detroit by making defenses miserable. His offenses could beat opponents on the ground, attack through the air and punish teams for overcommitting to either approach.
Chicago showed flashes of that versatility against Carolina. Minnesota took those options away, and the Bears didn't have much of a response.
Nobody is asking Johnson to reinvent his offense after one bad game. But there has to be something between scoring 59 points and spending four quarters searching for the end zone.
Sometimes the answer is as simple as getting the running game established and taking what the defense gives you.
The Eagles won't make life any easier
Philadelphia comes to town Monday night, and Chicago could be without Williams. Tyson Bagent might find himself running an offense that couldn't produce a touchdown even with its starter available.
Good luck with that assignment.
Johnson needs to give whoever starts at quarterback a manageable game plan. That means staying out of obvious passing situations, finding easier completions and getting the running backs involved before the offense falls behind schedule.
Chicago also needs to quit wasting scoring opportunities. Sunday's blocked field goal and fourth-down sack were painful reminders that moving the football means absolutely nothing without points.
One ugly performance doesn't erase everything Johnson accomplished in the opener. But it does give opposing defensive coordinators something to study.
The Bears hired Johnson because he was supposed to have answers when defenses adjusted. Minnesota presented him with his first serious problem of the season.
Now Philadelphia gets to find out whether he learned anything from it.
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