The Chicago Bears suffered a disappointing loss to the Green Bay Packers, 28-21, which marked their first loss in over a month. It dropped Chicago to 9-4, second place in the NFC North and seventh in the NFC.
The Bears had a miserable first half, where the offense totaled just 71 yards (the fewest from a Ben Johnson offense in a first half) and the defense allowed some big-play touchdowns to trail 14-3 at halftime. But Chicago showed incredible fight in the second half, where they outscored Green Bay, 18-14. The Bears had an opportunity to tie or even win the game in the final four minutes, but quarterback Caleb Williams was intercepted in the end zone with 0:27 left top seal the win for the Packers.
Following the game, head coach Ben Johnson shared his thoughts on the disappointing loss, but he also had praise for his team fighting back in the second half to make it a game.
“Obviously when it comes down to the wire like that and you are on the losing side of it, it is disappointing, but a lot of credit to our guys in the second half there making it a game,” Johnson said. “Down 14-3 at halftime and yet coming down to the last 30 seconds with the potential to tie that game up, or whether it is overtime, or go for the two-point (conversion).
“So it was really close at the end, but give a lot of credit to Green Bay. They made a couple more plays than us. Their offense was explosive. They found some big plays that resulted in touchdowns on us. Fortunately there in the second half our offense was able to find its footing a little bit both in the run game and the passing game. It felt like we had a bit of rhythm. We made it a game, but fell short at the end of the day.”
After a brutal first-half performance, it’s impressive that the Bears were able to mount a comeback and position themselves to force overtime or even win the game in the final minute. But Chicago won’t have to wait long for an opportunity to redeem themselves. The Bears and Packers will battle again in two weeks, where it could very well be first place in the NFC North on the line once again.
Follow Bears Wire on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ben Johnson sounds off on Bears’ disappointing loss to Packers
Reporting by Alyssa Barbieri, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
