Many Chicago Bears fans were frustrated by head coach Ben Johnson's decision-making on fourth down during the NFC Divisional Round game against the Los Angeles Rams.
During the first half of the game, Johnson decided to go for it on fourth down three times. His offense converted only one of them, which turned out to be a Caleb Williams touchdown pass to DJ Moore.
NBC NFL analyst Tony Dungy was talking with the crew at halftime, and he made a comment about Johnson going for it on fourth down so often.
“Forget the analytics. Kick the field goal when you get in the red zone.”
Ben Johnson's fourth down attempts have frustrated Bears fans all season
Everyone knew the moment Johnson was hired as the Bears' head coach that he would end up like his old boss, Dan Campbell, with the Detroit Lions: aggressive on fourth down. Johnson's unit has not been great on fourth down, ranking 21st in the NFL during the regular season.
In the 31-27 win over the Green Bay Packers, Johnson was two of five on fourth down, which prevented the comeback from happening sooner. A lot of those calls were Johnson being cute with his fourth down calls, which has been a complaint from fans all season.
The touchdown pass in the first half of the Rams game made sense to go for it since they were inside the five-yard line. The other two were not even in the red zone and could have been just field goals, and would have given them a 13-10 halftime lead if Bears kicker Cairo Santos had made both kicks.
Read more: It took just one drive for Caleb Williams to cause panic among Bears fans
Chicago will live and die by going for it on fourth down, but it will eventually bite them in the butt if they don't pick their spots better in the future.