Ben Johnson's red zone headaches with Bears offense are nowhere close to improving

The Chicago Bears really need to do something to get their offense rolling again, as they've shown some recent struggles, mostly in the red zone.

That became clear in the 31-7 blowout Week 5 loss to the Green Bay Packers, who had two trips to the red zone. Chicago managed at least one touchdown, but the other was an interception.

While the Bears' defense has far more problems, the offense isn't perfect either. What's happening in the red zone is, quite frankly, confusing, leaving many Bears fans trying to figure out the problem.

Bears' red zone problems are not getting better and Ben Johnson is not closer to fixing it

The first step in solving a problem is accepting that it exists. Warren Sharp shows clear evidence that the Bears rank last in the NFL in red-zone touchdown percentage, at 42.9%. Teamrankings.com adds insult to injury by noting that the Bears are tied for fourth in red-zone scoring attempts per game, with 4.2.

So the moral of the story is that the Bears are getting red-zone opportunities to score touchdowns, but they aren't turning them into six points at a rate high enough compared to the other 31 NFL teams. What's the deal with that?

Since before the season began, Bears head coach Ben Johnson has wanted the team to have the league's highest-scoring offense ever. The potential is there, but it is hard to tell when they'll get there, since they rarely score in the shortest part of the field: the red zone.

It makes no sense, as it can't be an offensive line issue. Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson, and Darnell Wright are consistently ranked among the best NFL offensive linemen this year.

Fans can't blame the running game. You can't blame it, since the Bears lead the league in rushing yards, averaging 173.2 yards per game. Sure, maybe a little of the blame goes to Kyle Monangai being out last week, but it's not the whole problem.

Quarterback and wide receiver play over the last two weeks could be part of the issue. Tyson Bagent hasn't been efficient in the red zone, and against the in really didn't have much chemistry with the receivers. Case Keenum has been somewhat better, but in Week 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Colston Loveland didn't reach over the goal line on a potential touchdown, and Rome Odunze dropped a pass in the end zone.

That shifts the blame to Johnson and to the team not being ready to perform well in the red zone. Too many times, Johnson is too cute with his play calls, resulting in negative yards. His decision-making can be questioned because of how aggressive he is on fourth down and how often they can't convert.

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This is an aspect of the Bears' offense that has to improve over the next two months if they want to contend for the Super Bowl. Johnson has to make sure they can do that, or it could cost them games down the road.

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