Lake Forest, IL (AP) – The Chicago Bears trailed at halftime in four of their last five regular-season games. They haven’t scored on their first offensive drive since Week 9 at Cincinnati.
That’s a big concern for the NFC North champions going into the franchise’s first playoff appearance since the 2020 season.
“There’s a process I believe in in terms of how we prepare these guys,” Chicago coach Ben Johnson said Tuesday. “I think we’ve got a lot of great professionals, and I think any time that you bring attention to something, that they look to fix it. That’s what we’re doing here this week.”
Time is of the essence, too — with the Green Bay Packers coming to Soldier Field on Saturday night for the opening weekend of the NFL playoffs.
Chicago scored a total of three points in the first half against Green Bay this season. The Packers closed out a 28-21 win on Dec. 7, but Caleb Williams rallied the Bears to a dramatic 22-16 victory in the second meeting on Dec. 20.
The Bears have six wins this season when trailing in the final two minutes, but they know that isn’t exactly a reliable formula — especially this time of year.
“We certainly don’t want to have to lean into that each and every week,” Johnson said. “We’d like to start off a little bit faster and make it more of a complete game for 60 minutes.”
Chicago (11-6) fell way short of a complete game on Sunday. Playing for postseason positioning, the Bears flopped against a Detroit Lions team that had dropped out of contention with a three-game slide.
The Bears managed only four first downs and 69 yards in the first half. They trailed 16-0 before Williams threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. But the Lions escaped with a 19-16 win on Jake Bates’ 42-yard field goal as time expired.
“We just came out flat. We don’t have time for that anymore,” Williams said. “We’ll make sure we don’t. If that starts with me, that starts with me. We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. … That’s the mindset: Go out there, start fast. We’ll make sure of it.”
In Week 17, Williams passed for two touchdowns in the first half at San Francisco. But the defense struggled against Brock Purdy and the Bears trailed 28-21 at halftime of a wild 42-38 loss to the 49ers.
Another shaky start on Saturday night, and Chicago will be in a tough spot in the NFL’s longest-running rivalry.
“It’s going to be about who executes and who is on their details, who’s on their fundamentals,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “That is what is going to win out at the end of the day. We have to be on top of that stuff. Obviously it’s going to be an electric atmosphere and we’ll use that to our advantage. But we have to be on those details.”
The Bears could get some reinforcements for their postseason opener. Cornerback Kyler Gordon has been cleared for practice after being sidelined by a groin injury. Wide receiver Rome Odunze also could return after missing the final five regular-season games with a foot injury.
“We have a great opportunity to go on a run,” safety Kevin Byard said, “and it’s all about putting the best things we can do as far as film study, recovery, everything and just come in with a great attitude because at the end of the day, we have a special opportunity in front of us and it starts with the Green Bay game.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
