Ben Johnson calls out Bears' offense after team's lackluster performance in Week 18: 'I was not pleased'
- - Ben Johnson calls out Bears' offense after team's lackluster performance in Week 18: 'I was not pleased'
Chris Cwik January 5, 2026 at 9:21 PM
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Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson engineered quite the turnaround in his first season on the job. After finishing in last place in the NFC North last season, the Bears clinched the division crown in 2025. Quarterback Caleb Williams showed tremendous growth after a rocky rookie season and the team finished in the top 10 in points per game.
But Johnson isn't satisfied with simply winning division titles. He wants more. So, when the Bears' offense came out flat early in Week 18 — not scoring for three straight quarters against the Detroit Lions — Johnson took notice.
After the game, a 19-16 loss, Johnson called out the offense's execution, saying he was "not pleased" with the way it operated, per ESPN.
"I was not pleased with the offense today," Johnson said.
He added: "We can't dig ourselves in a hole like that. I was disappointed with the offense as a whole. I let those guys know that. And we'll be better for it."
Johnson later added that the team's game plan was fairly simple, and that he would have to look into why the Bears weren't able to execute it.
Williams, similarly, agreed with the head coach's assessment, admitting the offense came out "flat" in Week 18.
"We came out a little flat, and I think we've got to work on having urgency from the jump and get that going," Williams said.
Williams added that the Bears need to be better on "both sides of the ball." After giving up 42 points to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 17, the Bears' defense did bounce back slightly against the Lions. The team utilized its usual bend-but-don't-break defense, limiting the Lions mostly to field goals once the team got into the red zone.
But with the offense failing to gain traction early, that wasn't good enough to pick up a win.
In the end, the loss didn't hurt Chicago too much. The team still earned the No. 2 seed in the NFC after the Philadelphia Eagles lost their Week 18 game to the Washington Commanders.
That gives the Bears until Saturday to get things turned around. The team will need to figure that out quickly, as the rival Green Bay Packers come to town, marking the third time the teams will play each other this season.
The Bears should be plenty fired up for that matchup. But they'll need to execute in all phases — something the team couldn't do in Week 18 — if they hope to win.
Source: “AOL Sports”
