After watching tape of Sunday's 30-16 loss to the Ravens, Bears coach Ben Johnson on Monday spoke to reporters virtually about what stood out to him.
(1) Johnson felt that the Bears continued to make the same mistakes they had committed during their four-game winning streak that ended Sunday. The big difference was that they didn't generate any takeaways after producing 15 in their victories over the Cowboys, Raiders, Commanders and Saints.
"We've got to play a cleaner game, complement each other better," Johnson said. "We had good field position on offense a number of times and we simply didn't score enough points. We have to eliminate the penalties. We're shooting ourselves in the foot way too much and we've got to be more efficient in the red zone.
"It's really not that far off from how we've played the previous four games, and yet we won because we had those takeaways. This week we didn't get the takeaways, and when you play ugly football like that, it's a lot more difficult to win the ballgame. We're on a mission here this week to get this all cleaned up, and I have complete confidence that we'll do that."
The Bears opened Sunday's game with 13- and 11-play drives but had to settle for field goals both times after stalling inside the Baltimore 5 and then just outside the 20.
Johnson pointed to penalties and red-zone efficiency as ongoing problems. The Bears drew 11 flags for 79 yards and scored one touchdown on three trips inside-the-20. An illegal formation penalty wiped out Tory Taylor's 59-yard punt that was downed at the Baltimore 1. And a pass interference penalty gave the Ravens an automatic first down after the Bears had seemingly forced a punt with a third-down stop.
The Bears will also continue to focus on eliminating false start penalties after drawing two more of those infractions against the Ravens.
"We've talked about it with the players," Johnson said. "We'll certainly make sure that they understand. Especially now that we lost a game and penalties were a big culprit as to why we didn't have the success we wanted to, I think it really opens pandora's box up here where, 'Hey, all hands on deck here, we've got to get this thing fixed.' We've been harping on it as a coaching staff and when it results in a loss, I think it just magnifies the issue that was at hand."
Improving the red-zone offense also remains a priority. After scoring TDs on 6 of 7 trips inside-the-20 in their first three games, the Bears have reached the end zone on 5 of 16 red-zone possessions in their last four contests, including 1 of 3 Sunday.
Asked about the challenge of calling plays inside the 10, Johnson said: "We go in each week with a plan to attack the defenses that we're anticipating, that we're seeing on tape there. We put a lot of onus on being able to run the ball down there. I thought we could have done a little bit better inside the 10. This week we had some negative plays that certainly didn't help the cause. I feel good about the plan that we put into place. We've just got to focus on our execution and our details."
(2) Despite the loss, Johnson saw some positives in Caleb Williams' performance.
The Bears quarterback completed 25 of 38 passes for 285 yards with one interception and a 77.2 passer rating while being sacked only once. Williams also rushed for 24 yards on three carries, including a 22-yard scamper.
"He was very efficient with the football there early in the game," Johnson said. "I thought he had a number of throws that were on time. We hit a couple in-breakers. That was encouraging to see as well … I thought he did a good job delivering that football.
"There's a couple that we talked about that need to be automatic here at this point halfway through the season that we missed on, and so we're going to keep on working through that process. I think we're going to be in good shape. I did think he took a step forward here this week."
On Williams' lone interception on a pass intended for receiver Rome Odunze, Johnson told reporters that he would have preferred that the ball been thrown underneath to running back Kyle Monangai, who was open in the flat.
"I'd like to see [Williams] check that ball down," Johnson said.
(3) Johnson provided an injury update concerning the four players that did not finish Sunday's game.
Rookie defensive lineman Shemar Turner, a second-round pick from Texas A&M, suffered an ACL injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season.
"He was a guy that we were really excited to finally get out on the field," Johnson said. "We had high hopes for him, acquiring him with such a high draft pick."
Turner appeared in five games this season, registering six tackles and two tackles-for-loss.
"I thought that when we made that transition to defensive end, it certainly coincided with our ability to stop the run at a higher clip," Johnson said. "We thought he was part of the solution there for us. He looked somewhat natural to play that spot for a guy that hadn't done a ton of it. We were really excited to see what this next half of the season was going to look like as he continued to develop in that role.
"It's a shame that we're going to miss out on him. He has a physical presence and demeanor about him that you really appreciate. He plays the game the way we want really all three phases to play. He loves football and I know he'll attack this rehab the right way."
Johnson added that defensive end Dominique Robinson is going to miss "a few weeks with a high ankle" [injury] after getting hurt on the opening kickoff Sunday.
Rookie receiver Luther Burden III remains in concussion protocol, while veteran receiver Olamide Zaccheaus is day-to-day with a knee injury.
