Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson may be the main reason (in tandem with Caleb Williams) that his team won 11 games and earned the No. 2 seed in the NFC. However, he may be the biggest reason his team gets upset at home by the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers.
Johnson has been extremely cavalier in this game, going for it on fourth down four times in the first half. While he converted one, a second attempt in Green Bay territory led to a miscommunication between Williams and Luther Burden III and a subsequent Packers interception.
Johnson got fans even more amped up when he went for it on 4th-and-4 from inside his own 40-yard line. Williams' pass was knocked down, which got Bears fans even angrier. Another attempted conversion in Packers territory fell incomplete. Why on earth is Johnson throwing all conventional wisdom to the side and going for it so often? This isn't Madden!
Bears fans are mad at Ben Johnson after multiple failed fourth-down conversions
Some fans are already relentless with the comparisons to former head coach Matt Nagy, who also took a second-year quarterback to a double-digit-win season and a playoff birth. Like Nagy, Johnson seems to be getting a brain freeze in a home playoff game.
Johnson is now being compared to his former boss in Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. While Campbell is also a guy who loves to go for it on fourth down, his overly aggressive style has often hurt Detroit in the playoffs. His protege is following in his footsteps.
Some fans have taken to defending Johnson in a wry way, saying that he is forced to go for it because he has zero faith or belief in his injured defense being able to slow down this Green Bay offense. The blame for that may fall on general manager Ryan Poles.
To make matters worse, Green Bay was able to easily punch it in to go up 21-3. Not only did the Packers convert a 4th-and-1 of their own, but Jordan Love connected on his third touchdown pass of the first half to silence a stunned crowd of Bears fans.
There's a fine line between being aggressive and being destructive, and Johnson's refusal to punt in situations where the majority of coaches in the NFL would have booted it away could cost the Bears a win here. This is a prime example of living and dying by the sword.