Chicago Bears: Ben Johnson in a ‘race’ to fix the defense

The Chicago Bears offense put the league on notice by putting up 59 points in a 22-point win on the road against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The Bears offense was expected to be good… but probably not that good. The 37 points Chicago surrendered didn’t come as too much of a surprise, especially given the number of possessions the Panthers had on Sunday.

The offense looks championship caliber. The defense looks like a liability.

The Bears outgained the Panthers in total yards 552-478. However, the Bears averaged 7.9 yards per play to Carolina’s 7.7 yards. Chicago took advantage of a 3-1 turnover margin to win the contest.

While the Bears lived on turnover margin last year, it’s not something they want to rely on. Chicago needs to get stops.

During his postgame news conference, Bears head coach Ben Johnson was asked what his approach would be to try and “problem solve” issues with the defense. Johnson said the Bears are in a “race” to improve all phases of the team, including the defense. He believes the defense will improve over the season.

Chicago Bears in a race to fix the defense

“Now we’re in a race to improve in all three phases and collectively as a team,” Johnson said. “That’s
what we’ve got to do. So, we’ll take a look at the tape, what can we get better at. It only gets harder
from here on out.

“And yet I told those guys, you’d like to think in a long season like this, we’re playing
our worst football early on and we continue to get better and better and better. And so that’s really the
message right there. All three phases, we all got to get better, each and every week.”

For Johnson, the goal is to find ways to win in the margins week-to-week in a league that promotes parity. A solid defense paired with his genius offensive mind would certainly help in that area.

The Bears will next host a Minnesota Vikings team that put up 22 points against the Green Bay Packers in the fourth quarter to win 39-22 on Sunday.

Look for more fireworks next week.

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