The Chicago Bears’ 28-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field was hurt for a variety of reasons.
With the win, the Packers claimed first place in the NFC North and the second overall seed in the conference. Chicago dropped to the seventh seed in the playoff standings.
The Bears, 9-4, also shot themselves in the foot, something Caleb Williams mentioned in his postgame press conference, in all three phases throughout the entire game.
Head coach Ben Johnson’s offense couldn’t generate any rhythm in the first half, ending with just 32 passing yards and three points. Cairo Santos kicked the ball out of bounds at the end of the second quarter, giving the Packers prime field position that helped Green Bay capitalize on a 45-yard touchdown before halftime. The defense gave far too many explosive plays.
Bears' defense was the focus of what went wrong against Packers
Johnson spoke with ESPN Chicago’s Jeff Joniak on Monday to discuss the game, and the Bears’ head coach highlighted what went wrong on defense.
“I think we ended up giving up eight explosives by our account,” Johnson said. “That’s certainly not winning football, not when you hold them to 50-something plays in the game, so that is something we will clean up. We feel like, once again, technique we can be a little bit better on our alignments and things of that nature. That can help sure that up. Yeah, it hurt us.”
The Packers scored an explosive touchdown on Bo Melton’s 45-yard reception, and Christian Watson added two more touchdowns, a 23-yarder in the second quarter and a 41-yarder in the third.
Johnson also added that the defense didn’t get the Packers off schedule enough before Green Bay approached third down. The Packers finished eight of 12 on third downs and finished seven of seven on third-and-three or less.
“If we could’ve made it a little bit more in the third-and-long game, then that really kind of plays into our wheelhouse more,” Johnson said. “I feel like our defense has done a good job when it’s been third and longer throughout the year. We just didn’t get them in that situation enough.”
One instance in which the defense forced a third-and-long situation led to a takeaway. C.J. Gardner-Johnson intercepted Jordan Love on third-and-19 in the first quarter.
Read more: Caleb Williams' blunt response about final INT won't sit well with Bears fans
The Bears will have plenty to fix as the team looks to rebound against the Cleveland Browns in Week 15 at Soldier Field and then for the rematch against the Packers the following week in Chicago.