The Chicago Bears may have won the NFC North last season, but head coach Ben Johnson identified a major problem and is already working to address it this year. Chicago struggled in the second quarter. In fact, the Bears ranked No. 27 in the NFL in points scored in the last two minutes of the first half.
“We talked about that as a team last night, and this will be our first chance today to work that situation at two minutes before halftime. And so a lot goes into it,” Johnson said before Friday’s practice. “I do think, as I’ve said it to you for a year and a half now, anytime you put emphasis on something, you normally see good things happen because of it.”
Training camp provides the opportunity to work on the two-minute drill, but the Bears will also need to improve their performance in the entire second quarter. Last season, Chicago was outscored by 50 points in the second. Conversely, they outscored their opponents in every other quarter.
“It’s a huge point of emphasis for us. We were not good [in] two-minute/end-of-half,” Johnson said. “We weren’t very good in the second quarter in general. We didn’t score as many points as the other quarters. We gave up more points in that quarter as well.”
Johnson was probably satisfied with how practice ended Friday with a successful two-minute drill. Quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense capped off that 10-play, 71 yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown to tight end Colston Loveland. The second-year tight end seemed to be a favorite target of Williams’ during the two-minute drill, connecting with him a total of four times for 39 yards, according to Bear Report. The defense also helped matters by jumping offsides twice.
This successful two-minute drive at the end of practice is promising for the Bears. However, they will need to see more successful two-minute drills in training camp, as well as in the preseason, to have full confidence that it will translate to the regular season.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears offense answered Ben Johnson’s challenge in Friday’s practice
Reporting by Ariana Pensy, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ariana Pensy, Bears Wire | USA TODAY Network
