Some within the Chicago Bears fan base might have questioned the decision that head coach Ben Johnson made at the end of their 28-21 heartbreaking loss to the Green Bay Packers.
After the Packers scored the go-ahead score to take a seven-point lead, the Bears had 3:32 to drive down the field to either tie or go for the win. Chicago took a more conservative approach with killing the clock, so by the time Caleb Williams threw his game-sealing interception in the end zone, the Bears only had 27 seconds left, and at that point, it was game over.
There have been mixed emotions about whether Johnson made the right call by running out the clock or trying to run the offense more quickly in case of a turnover, so they can try to get one more chance. With how the Packers' offense had been rolling, it was too easy a decision for Johnson just to kill the clock.
"That was really well done by the team there," Johnson said. "I feel really good how we moved the ball down the field minus the 3rd and 1, 4th and 1. With a QB playing as well as Jordan Love, the last thing we wanted to do was give them a chance to respond."
Did Johnson ultimately make the right call?
The reality is the Packers' offense was firing on all cylinders with the big plays killing the Bears. All three of Jordan Love's touchdown passes were from 20 or more yards, with two of them being from over 40 yards.
Green Bay's running game was finding some success as well, led by running back Josh Jacobs, who had 86 rushing yards on 20 carries and one touchdown. The Packers finished with 117 yards on the ground, averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Chicago's offense was the opposite, struggling in the first half with three points and 76 yards of total offense, only five yards on three drives in the first quarter. They picked things up in the second half thanks to some terrific throws by Williams and hard-nose running by Kyle Monangai and D'Andre Swift to get them back in the game.
The only fundamental mistake on that drive was Williams underthrowing Cole Kmet in the end zone on the final interception. If there had been more air on the ball, that could have been a touchdown, and the subsequent decision would have been to either go for the two-point conversion to win it or the extra point to tie it.
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Chicago had the right strategy in place, but the execution needed to be better.