The last time the Bears were coming off a defeat, first-year head coach Ben Johnson put pressure on his team to sharpen up during the week and show it on game day. That moment came after a 52-21 blowout loss to the Lions at Ford Field in Week 2, and Johnson made it clear he expected a stronger response before facing the Cowboys.
Johnson said the following Monday that there would be more internal competition and that certain plays on film did not meet the team’s standard. He wanted to see who was willing to practice with urgency and fight for a bigger role in the game plan.
If that was the tone publicly, it’s safe to assume the message behind closed doors was even tougher. The Bears answered in a big way, jumping out to a fast start with two touchdowns in the opening quarter and limiting Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ offense on the way to a 31-14 win — helped in part by an early injury to receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Johnson is hoping for the same kind of bounce-back performance Sunday when Chicago travels to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals. The Bears are still stinging from last week’s 30-16 loss to the Ravens in Baltimore — a game made worse by the fact that the defeat came against backup quarterback Tyler Huntley instead of Lamar Jackson. After seven games, Johnson made it clear he expects better.
He said the Bears failed to force turnovers and played sloppy football, making it harder to win. He added that the mission this week is to correct every mistake, and he believes the team will respond the right way.
More than anything, this matchup is about whether the Bears can answer their coach’s challenge. It comes down to discipline, sharper execution, and cutting out the constant penalties that have hurt them all season.
The Bears are still a work in progress in Johnson’s first year — flashes of potential mixed with obvious flaws, from Caleb Williams on down. Nothing about this roster is finalized, and everything still feels like a developing story.
There’s a real possibility this young team grows up fast in the second half of the season. But even with all the outside scrutiny, it’s still early to make sweeping judgments about Johnson, Williams, or the team as a whole. Year 2 will be the true measuring stick.
By then, Johnson will have evaluated every part of the roster and made his adjustments. When he was in Detroit as the offensive coordinator in 2022, the Lions jumped from 25th to 5th in scoring in just one year — and they still added more talent afterward, drafting Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, and signing David Montgomery.
The Bengals game won’t define the Bears’ future, but it is another checkpoint in Johnson’s leadership. He already proved he can get a reaction after a bad loss — like the Lions game — and again after the bye week, when Chicago focused on the run game and D’Andre Swift responded with 108 yards against Washington.
After the sloppy showing against Baltimore, Johnson made it clear it’s on the players to correct it.
“They’re already doing that,” he said. “And we’ll be just fine.”
