After the Chicago Bears' Week 8 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, head coach Ben Johnson was unhappy with one specific trend that hasn't yet been fixed.
"The penalties to me, is what stands out first and foremost. We still have some of the pre-snap issues ... that stuff adds up and it hurts us," he said in his postgame press conference.
Johnson would go on to essentially tell reporters that the penalties are not on him as a coach. Instead, he's placing blame squarely on the players.
"We get away with it occasionally, but it's not the way you win in this league ... I really put it on the leaders in that locker room ... us coaches, we've been pounding that drum now for a while and we haven't gotten the results we wanted. So, it's on the leaders here on this team to get it right."
Ben Johnson isn't taking blame for the Bears' inexcusable penalties, and he shouldn't have to
Look, we are far enough into this season and have seen and heard enough from Johnson to know that he doesn't beat around the bush. When he says something, he means it. So, if he assures the fan base that he's harped on penalties this season, we can believe him.
The problem is, there has been no translation to the field. So, his assessment of calling it like it is and placing blame on the players, themselves, is more than justified.
The Bears came into this game ranked 31st in the league in both penalties and penalty yardage. It didn't get any better, either, as Chicago found themselves being penalized 11 times for 79 yards in this contest.
Penalties continue to be a pain point. There is no way around it. Between the penalties and red zone woes, the Bears still have a long ways to go.
This was a team some were excited to talk about, having been on a 4-game winning streak before the loss to Baltimore. But, it isn't hard to see that the Bears haven't been playing particularly well while winning these games.
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Sure, they've found ways to win, and let's give them credit for doing so. But, they have won in spite of constantly shooting themselves in the foot. Penalties have to be cleaned up. They have to. Otherwise, this Bears team will continue to suffer in mediocrity as they have for years on end.