The tape from the Chicago Bears’ 52-21 loss to the Detroit Lions highlighted many differences between the two teams, but one issue that appeared may be more alarming than the rest.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson addressed the media on Wednesday afternoon at Halas Hall and was asked about the game tape and what specifically he was unhappy about.
“Yeah, there were things all over the tape on all three phases that we're looking to clean up,” Johnson said. “I thought, as a whole, that team, they played a little bit harder than us. And that's a reflection of me as a coach. That's a reflection of our coaching staff and it's a reflection of our players too. When you play a good team like that on the road, you gotta be all out every single snap and that was just not the case. Specifically, it was everybody.”
Johnson being brutally honest about what Bears need to be a championship team
Not playing hard in Week 2 isn’t a good sign, considering the Bears came off a loss to the Minnesota Vikings that featured a fourth-quarter debacle at Soldier Field.
Johnson also went on to say that the team’s “practice habits are yet to reflect a championship caliber team.”
When Johnson was asked what practice habits aren’t championship caliber, the Bears’ head coach provided some insight.
“We should be going to the football, finishing hard,” Johnson said. “We talk about it all the time with the offensive players that our fundamentals, our finish and our technique, they need to show up in walk-through, they need to show up on the practice field. That's how it shows up on game day. Simple things of how do we properly block? How do we catch the ball? How do we block after the catch? Ball security and things like that. It's the little things that you learn in youth league football that even at this level, they make a huge difference.”
The Bears may need to revisit their youth football days to execute the fundamentals that need to be present on every rep: playing hard, finishing, etc.
After losing by 31 points to the Lions in Week 2, the team should be extremely motivated to ensure that type of performance doesn’t happen again. On Monday, veteran defensive lineman Grady Jarrett said Week 2 wasn’t “going to let this moment define us.”
Read more: Grady Jarrett ruthlessly calls out Bears defense after blowout loss to Lions
If that’s the case, the Bears have to approach this week of practice differently. Maybe then the results will show on the scoreboard as the team is still searching for its first victory of the season.