Bears HC Ben Johnson explains the reasoning behind the lack of opportunities for the team’s first-round pick in Week 1 loss to Vikings
Interesting decision to make with the game plan.
The Chicago Bears’ Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings isn’t one anyone expected to see in the first game under new head coach Ben Johnson.
The Bears’ offense, led by quarterback Caleb Williams, was sloppy. After a strong drive to open the game, Johnson’s unit couldn’t get anything going as Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores made the necessary adjustments.
Williams struggled making his reads and getting the ball out of his hands (a recurring issue for the young quarterback), and the run game had issues keeping the offense ahead of the sticks.
Personnel-wise, Johnson made good use of his stable of offensive weapons when it came to snap counts, but you would have liked to have seen more usage from the tight end position, especially from rookie first-round pick Colston Loveland.
Lack of usage by Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet was by design going into Week 1
“Each game is different,” Johnson said after the loss. “They knew that they were going to have a workman-like approach to this game. They were going to be big factors in the run game and in protection for us. As a result, the receiving game might not have been quite as big this week.”
Not as big? It was borderline nonexistent against Minnesota and probably should have been adjusted in the game plan to help give Williams some easy completions to the big-bodied targets once the unit continued to struggle moving the ball through the air.
Between Kmet and Loveland, the Bears’ two tight ends played 98 total offensive snaps and had a combined six targets, three receptions, and 43 yards. Thirty-one of those yards came on one play late in the fourth quarter when Kmet made an insane snag down the seam to give the offense some life.
Johnson has been preaching for weeks that his game plan, play-calling, and personnel usage will be matchup-specific throughout the 2025 season. The game plan on Monday night was to establish the run and keep the pocket clean as the top priority. Keeping the tight ends on the line of scrimmage and blocking obviously turned out to be a big part of that.
“Of course, when we have the penalties, it’s hard to establish the run game quite like we wanted to,” Johnson added. “It felt like we were behind the sticks most time. Second-and-long and third-and-long was where we lived, which was a struggle for us offensively.”
Going forward, one would expect the Bears to have a stronger game plan that would better incorporate the tight ends into the passing attack to help that area of the offense find some success.
Next up, Johnson will face off against his former team in the Detroit Lions, and is sure to have a much more up his sleeve going into that matchup.
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