Ben Johnson showed some flashes of greatness (and struggles) in Bears debut

Ben Johnson's debut as the head coach of the Chicago Bears ended on a sour note as they fell to the visiting Minnesota Vikings 27-24 after carrying an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter.

How did the Bears' offense look in Johnson's system?

Offensively, it was clear from the jump that Johnson had the offense and quarterback Caleb Williams more prepared to play than they were a year ago.

"I thought Caleb played well to start the game for the most part, finding completions and getting us moving," Johnson said to open his post-game press conference.

The 10-play, 61-yard scripted touchdown drive to start the game was the first time that the Bears were able to score on their opening possession since Williams took the reins of the offense at the start of last season.

There is still room to improve, however, on the offensive side of the ball, specifically in terms of being able to move the chains consistently.

"We weren't good enough on third down or fourth down as the game went on. We knew [the Vikings were] a good team on those downs," Johnson said. "It felt like we were behind the sticks most times. Second and long and third and long is where we lived, which was a struggle for us."

On the night, the Bears' offense converted just a quarter of their third-down attempts and failed to move the sticks on their sole fourth-down try.

Continuing to find ways to get Williams comfortable and in rhythm from both inside and outside of the pocket is paramount for Johnson's offense to take the next step, and complementing the passing attack with a strong rushing attack is potentially one of the best ways to accomplish that goal.

As the Lions' offensive coordinator a season ago, Johnson was able to get about 139 rushing yards per game from his running backs alone. On Monday night, that total dropped to 53 yards, all from D'Andre Swift, with Williams actually serving as the team's leading rusher with 58 total yards.

Johnson himself said he did not "feel the rhythm" in the run game as he was calling the plays. Simply put, the offense will look cleaner and Williams will have less on his shoulders if Johnson can get more out of Swift, as well as rookie rusher Kyle Monangai and a currently-injured Roschon Johnson.

Evaluting the Bears' defense against the VIkings

On the defensive side of the ball, which is called not by Johnson but by defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, the group struggled to close out a game that they certainly could have won against quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who was making his NFL debut. "I really think the defense did a really good up until the very end. That fourth quarter, things got away from us a little bit, but up until then they kept us in that ball game," Johnson said.

Without key contributors in cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon, as well as linebacker T.J. Edwards, the rest of the defenders present would have to play lights out, and they did for so for the most part, including four first-half three-and-outs and a 74-yard pick six by former Viking Nahshon Wright. Still, the Vikings were able to make better half-time adjustment, specifically on offense, that the Bears were unable to keep up with, ultimately costing them the lead and the game.

Rough night on special teams for Bears

Perhaps the most detrimental part of the Bears' showing on Monday night was on special teams, which featured a missed field goal, a blocked punt and a botched kickoff at the end of the game that cost the offense an additional timeout by forgoing the advantage of the two minute warning clock stoppage.

"The intent was for the ball to go out of the end zone," Johnson said on the game's final kickoff with 2:02 remaining in the game. "We felt like if we had kicked it out the end zone and gotten the three-and-out that we got, we would get the ball back with around 56 seconds."

Cairo Santo's inability to get the ball out of play ultimately cost the Bears' offense any chance of a regular possession to potentially tie or win the game. However, the kicker cannot bear all scrutiny alone, as the staff could have instructed him to kick the ball out of bounds and end in essentially the same situation.

Overall view of Johnson's first game as head coach

As a whole, the team struggled to execute cleanly, headlined by a troubling 12 penalties that accounted for 127 yards.

"That's gotta be cleaned up in a hurry, and we've been saying that all training camp," Johnson said. "We'll find a way to get that done, it's gonna be a collective effort, no one's pointing fingers."

Ultimately, the team did in fact seem to play with more energy than they did a season ago, and Johnson will have an opportunity to avenge his first loss by winning this Sunday in Detroit against a team that he coached for six seasons.

"Guys did play hard, they played with great intensity, great effort, and I hate to see that they didn't come out with the W there at the end," Johnson said. "But no one's going to feel sorry for us. It's going to be a quick turnaround here to get going for next Sunday in Detroit, our first road game. So we got to change the page here quickly."

Read more: These 4 key stats defined Bears' heartbreaking 27-24 loss to Vikings in Week 1

Despite the loss, there were still a lot of positives from Johnson's debut, and if he is indeed the coach that local and national media has lauded all offseason, then it will not take long for him to get the ship pointed in the right direction. All in all, it was a solid showing from Johnson with room to grow.