There are a lot of heartbroken Chicago Bears fans looking back at their 20-17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round and seeing what they could have done better to pull off the victory.
The Bears had their missed moments in the contest that could have saved them from losing the contest, but one moment has everyone's attention. It was right after Bears quarterback Caleb Williams had somehow found a way on fourth down to connect with Cole Kmet for the miraculous touchdown pass with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Many thought about how Bears head coach Ben Johnson had been aggressive all season in games and figured he would go for the two-point conversion, but took the safer route and kicked the extra point. Johnson was asked about the moment after the game and whether he thought about going for the win right there instead of kicking the extra point.
"Thought about it. What probably played a little bit of a factor was our goal-to-go situations hadn’t gone very clean," Johnson said via 670 The Score's Chris Emma. "I just felt better about taking our chances there in overtime."
Ben Johnson has taken heat for this decision in Bears loss
Johnson was faced with the exact same situation in the Week 16 win over the Green Bay Packers, where they scored a game-tying touchdown with under 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. He also went with the extra point to force overtime, with the defense getting a stop and Williams throwing a game-winning touchdown.
Nobody seemed to argue with Johnson's decision then. So, why would NFL analysts and fans all of a sudden argue with the decision when that has worked before?
Johnson ended up technically right on the call, as his defense got the stop to start overtime, giving the ball back to the offense. A miscommunication between Williams and DJ Moore led to the interception, which set up a game-winning field goal by the Rams.
For the postseason, the Bears were five of 12 on fourth down between the two games, so if anything, Johnson should be criticized for being too aggressive, as he left too many points on the board. Chicago could have won that game on Williams' last pass of the fourth quarter, but because they gave up multiple field goal attempts, it was only a tie.
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People can argue it all they want, but the Bears have not been efficient on fourth down, so for that reason, Johnson was right to kick the extra point and force overtime. It's just a matter of the team executing better, which they will clean up for next year.