One would think Ben Johnson was happy with how the Chicago Bears’ preseason finale unfolded. Despite falling behind 20-3 at one point, they battled their way back in the second half to steal a 29-27 victory in the final seconds. Such an assumption would be the furthest from the truth. Johnson was not happy with his team despite the final result. He’s not naive. Many of the problems that dropped the Bears into that early hole came from the starting units. The offense had to punt on its first two drives because of sloppy mistakes that brought back memories of last year. Defensively, they couldn’t pressure Patrick Mahomes, and the special teams were off.
If you thought Johnson would keep those thoughts to himself, you’re wrong again. The Bears head coach wasted no time laying into his players during his post-game press conference. He expressed disappointment and frustration in their execution after what he felt was their best week of work before and after the Bills game last week. He thought the mistakes had been ironed out. Kansas City disabused them of that. He didn’t sugarcoat things. This team needs to get a lot better. What he saw was unacceptable across the board.
Ben Johnson continues to prove he’s not afraid to tell the truth.
Players have egos. You don’t get to this level of professional sports without one. Good head coaches are ready and willing to hurt those egos when necessary. The moment players start thinking their crap doesn’t stink is the moment they lose games. Ben Johnson had no intention of sparing the Bears’ feelings. His job is to tell them what they needed to hear, and what they needed to hear was that their play sucked. This team has standards. There is no explaining away bad performances. No excuses. Johnson expects perfection. If you don’t do your job, expect to hear about it. This is not something the head coach will keep in-house. That often isn’t the best way to get a guy’s attention.
