Coaching Misstep Costs Bears Chances
In his debut as head coach, Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears made a critical mistake by allowing the Vikings to use up the two-minute warning during a kickoff return, an action the Bears desperately needed to avoid as they sought to regain possession of the ball.
With just 2:02 left in the fourth quarter, the Bears scored a touchdown, narrowing the Vikings’ lead to 27-24. In this situation, the strategic options should have been either an onside kick or kicking the ball out of bounds. These actions would stop the clock and give the Bears a fighting chance to recover the ball. Unfortunately, the Bears opted for neither.
Instead, Johnson instructed his kicker to kick the ball deep, aiming for a touchback. The Vikings, however, returned the kick out of the end zone, consuming over two seconds off the clock and allowing the two-minute warning to go unused before their offense took the field.
“The intent was for the ball to go out of the end zone,” Johnson stated following the game. While this may have been his intention, it is unrealistic to rely on a kicker to execute such a perfect kick every time. All NFL kickers can reliably kick the ball out of bounds, which the Bears should have done to avoid losing critical time. A kickoff out of bounds places the ball at the 40-yard line, resulting in only a minimal field position gain for the Vikings.
When asked if he considered an onside kick, Johnson acknowledged, “Yeah. We believed if we had kicked it out of the end zone and gotten a three-and-out, we’d have the ball back with around 56 seconds left.” Unfortunately, the Bears got the ball at their own 20-yard line with just nine seconds left, never coming close to field goal range before the game concluded.
Though it may seem easy to critique this decision in hindsight, it was a widely recognized concern at the moment. As the Bears took the lead with 2:02 left, Peyton Manning pointed out during the ManningCast that losing the two-minute warning was detrimental for the Bears. He noted the Bears should have opted for the onside kick, emphasizing the necessity to avoid allowing the Vikings to burn valuable time.
Manning reiterated the importance of making the right decision, saying, “They’re kicking off. I’d kick it out of bounds.” After the Vikings returned the kick, Manning highlighted how Johnson’s choice hindered the Bears’ opportunity for a comeback. In the end, Johnson’s poor decision-making in a crucial late-game scenario cost the Bears their chance to reclaim the ball with enough time to score.
