Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson had yet to lose a preseason game, going 3-0-1 to begin his career before a 27-9 loss in Cincinnati Saturday night.
It’s the process more than the result, but he wasn’t pleased about either.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s preseason or not,” Johnson told reporters. “It’s a bad feeling in that locker room after the game when you lose, particularly like that. When it’s down by multiple scores, you don’t feel like you made it very close there at the end.”
Johnson decided to play most of his starters on both sides for the first series. Caleb Williams had an 18-yard pass to Rome Odunze while on the run, and another 10-yard play to tight end Colston Loveland, but he couldn’t connect with Loveland on second down when there was an opening down the seam. The starting offence settled for a field goal.
The starting defence allowed a 14-play, 67-yard field goal drive to Bengals backups, allowing a 3-for-4 rate on third down.
Many of the specific questions to Johnson about how he evaluated performance elicited an “I have to watch the tape” response. It won’t look as good as the team’s other preseason games, but there were still some notable performances.
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Risers
Defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo: It had to feel good for Odeyingbo to notch a quarterback hit on third-and-10. And he got his money’s worth, beating the offensive tackle to lay the lumber on quarterback Josh Johnson and force a bad throw. Coming off his torn Achilles and disappointing production, Odeyingbo is under pressure this season to show his contract isn’t as bad as it seemed last year.
Tight end Sam Roush: The rookie showed impressive run-after-catch ability on a 26-yard reception at the end of the first quarter. He had another catch on that field-goal drive, which highlighted his strong hands. His blocking on a Roschon Johnson run was notable, too. Those were just three reps, but they were all positive for the third-rounder.
Defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg: The rookie continues to impress. He pushed the pocket on third down and then had run stuff for no gain. Van den Berg’s relentlessness was highlighted on the broadcast when he chased down Bengals quarterback Sean Clifford. His athleticism was a given, and he’s showing that he knows how to use it.
Reserve defensive ends: Odeyingbo set the tone with his quarterback hit, and Daniel Hardy followed up with a tackle for loss. A sack appeared to be shared by him and Jamree Kromah, but defensive holding nullified it. Jeremiah Martin had a quarterback hurry on third down, forcing a throwaway.
End-of-half management: We know that getting points at the end of the second quarter is a point of emphasis for Johnson, and with 23 seconds left in the first half, the reserve offence did a nice job. Salvon Ahmed’s 16-yard run, followed by a 19-yard throw from Case Keenum to J.P. Richardson, put the Bears in field goal range, but the backups had to get on the ball for Keenum to spike it in time, and he did — barely. Cairo Santos made the 44-yard field goal to send the Bears to the locker room with points. The communication and execution were solid.
Running back Roschon Johnson: The fourth-year back had 12 carries for 42 yards and was running with some power, which seemed to impress his coach. “He flashed the other day on special teams … he had a couple really nice plays in the practice,” Johnson said after the game. “Can’t wait to see what it looked like today on the game tape.”
Roschon Johnson found some running room for the Bears Saturday night. (Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
Tory Taylor: Let’s give a shoutout to the Bears’ third-year punter who boomed a 63-yarder and averaged 51.8 yards on his six punts with a net of 40.8 yards.
Jahdae Walker: The second-year pro had the best play of the night, hauling in a 36-yard pass down the left sideline from Keenum. It’s that big-play ability that drew the Bears to Walker last spring, and it should help him make the 53 next week, along with his work on special teams.
Fallers
Left tackle competition: According to Stacey Dales on the Fox broadcast, Bears offensive coordinator Press Taylor said, “We want somebody to take over that spot” protecting Williams’ blind side. They did not get that kind of clarity Saturday night. Braxton Jones started and got a holding penalty on the first series, which ultimately stalled the drive. He gave ground on the next possession, a completion from Keenum to J.P. Richardson, while struggling against a powerful rush from a Cincinnati reserve.
Jedrick Wills Jr had a holding penalty, and late in the game, Kiran Amegadjie was flagged for a false start. While Theo Benedet made no glaring errors, at first glance he didn’t seem to take the job. We’ll see who gets the nod as the first-team left tackle Tuesday.
Discipline: Johnson was most proud last week of the Bears drawing only two flags, unheard of in a preseason game. Saturday night was much worse, as the Bears had 11 penalties, including seven in the first half. We also saw a muffed punt from Kaden Davis and a fumble on a kickoff return from Richardson.
Situational football: In addition to lamenting the penalties, Johnson also wasn’t pleased with the offence’s performance inside the 20-yard line. “The fact that we were able to move the ball at times is good, but we couldn’t turn those drives into touchdowns. Those are major killers when you’re facing a good team like that,” he said.
Johnson pointed out the third-down issues on both sides of the ball. The offence was only 2-for-14, while the defence allowed the Bengals to go 6-for-13.
Player health: There was one potentially serious injury when linebacker Nephi Sewell had to be carted off the field, but the game’s attendance report served as a reminder of the injury issues the Bears have had. Johnson noted that starting corner Tyrique Stevenson is dealing with a week-to-week injury, joining quarterback Tyson Bagent and running back Kyle Monangai in that category.
On an encouraging note, many of the players who have been sidelined were present in Cincinnati, physically able to travel, and a few reportedly worked out pregame. We’ll see if any can come back in time to play next week in Nashville.
