The Chicago Bears just decimated the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, 26-14. It marked the team's first four-game win streak in seven years.
Still, the team's first-year head coach Ben Johnson has some notes, as Sean Hammond of The Chicago Tribune observes.
Johnson, formerly the offensive coordinator for a very exciting Detroit Lions squad in recent seasons, was surprisingly critical over his new club's output on that end of the field.
Ben Johnson still seeks consistency
“Up and down,” Johnson said. “That’s what we’ve looked like. We haven’t hit our stride yet offensively. We’re capable of a lot more.”
In fairness to Johnson, Chicago's defense has been the star of the show of late. As Hammond notes, the Bears' defense has logged 15 takeaways across the last four seasons.
“We’re not complimenting our defense on a regular basis,” Johnson said. “With the number of turnovers we’ve had the last four games, we should be able to turn those into more points.”
Chicago has now improved its record on the season to 4-2 — a the same mark that the team boasted at this time last year, too, before everything fell apart and the Bears dropped 10 straight contests.
The Bears' passing under 2024 No. 1 pick Caleb Williams “wasn’t nearly efficient enough,” Johnson claimed.
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Williams went just 15-of-26 for 172 yards and an interception.
"I didn't play well today," Williams conceded. “It’s insane to think that we’re 4-2, (and) about how much growth we have left, myself included.”
The two quarterbacks selected behind Williams, Commanders signal caller Jayden Daniels and New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, have both already been named to Pro Bowl teams. Williams, a 2022 Heisman winner with the USC Trojans, still has tremendous upside, but has yet to develop in the pros the way his contemporaries already have.
“When you win, you can usually coach a little bit harder,” Johnson said. “We’re always truth tellers, on Monday in particular. When it’s good, we’ll tell them when it’s good. When it’s bad, we’ll tell them what we’ve got to clean up. There’s a number of things there today that we can get better at.”
More Bears news:
- Bears' Jake Moody goes from cut by 49ers, to walk-off hero in a matter of weeks
- Inside Ben Johnson’s locker room explosion after Bears’ wild win over Commanders
- Bears star Caleb Williams' fourth quarter touchdown propels Chicago past Commanders
- Ex-Pro Bowl Bears star retiring for tragic reason