Even though the Chicago Bears fell short to the Green Bay Packers, 28-21, in their Week 14 matchup at Lambeau Field, Ben Johnson knew what he would've done had his team scored a touchdown with their final possession.
Johnson joined ESPN Chicago's Jeff Joniak the day after the game and was asked if it would have been a fair suggestion that the Bears’ head coach would have gone for two in the hypothetical situation
“That was highly likely,” Johnson said.
Ben Johnson was thinking about going for the two-point conversion
Given Johnson's aggressive nature with his play calling and how he approached that final drive, his answer shouldn't be all too surprising.
With the Bears down 28-21, Chicago received the ball with 3:26 left in the fourth quarter. Caleb Williams started the drive with a 27-yard completion to Luther Burden III, and then two plays later, the Bears’ quarterback connected with Devin Duvernay for another 24 yards.
That brought the Bears to the two-minute warning. Then, Johnson utilized his ground game and Kyle Monangai. The rookie running back gained six yards on first down and another three on second down.
Johnson didn't take his first timeout until after Monangai's third down run gained zero yards, and at that point, just 27 seconds remained in the game.
In Johnson's eyes, the Bears had executed those final moments according to plan. And Johnson didn't want to give Packers quarterback Jordan Love another opportunity, especially since he had thrown three touchdown passes in the game.
“The last thing we wanted to do as well is give them enough time to respond because of how dangerous they had been on offense,” Johnson said. “And so, best case scenario would've been scoring a touchdown with under 30 seconds there and then letting our defense go out and hold down the fort there for the very end to win the game. But we didn't make enough plays there on that last drive to earn that right.”
Read more: Ben Johnson didn't hold back on Bears' defensive struggles against Packers
On fourth-and-one from the Packers’ 14-yard line, Williams was intercepted trying to target Cole Kmet in the end zone. The takeaway sealed the game and officially made the idea of going for a two-point conversion just a thought in Johnson's mind.