The Chicago Bears accomplished so much in 2025. They won the division for the first time in seven years, won a playoff game for the first time in 15 years, and rewrote the record books offensively in many ways. It was something to be proud of for Ben Johnson, who is the only Bears head coach in the Super Bowl era to win a playoff game in his first season. However, none of that seems to register with the man. All he can think about is how the season ended in the divisional round against the Los Angeles Rams.
It was an incredible experience in many ways. He’d always heard about the mystique of Soldier Field that time of year, but was overwhelmed when he saw it for the first time. Unfortunately, his underestimation of the Bears’ home field, along with his stubbornness on team philosophy, contributed to the team’s overtime defeat. Johnson admitted to Dan Pompei of The Athletic that two things still haunt him about that game. One was not taking the field goal early in the game after Rome Odunze dropped a TD. The other was not shifting his offensive approach to account for the game’s weather conditions until it was too late.
Ben Johnson blames himself for that loss.
He also wants to spend more time on game management, partly because of how he handled the Bears’ 20-17 overtime loss to the Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs.
“I kick myself when I think about that game,” he says.
Given his respect for Rams coach Sean McVay, MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford and the top-scoring offense in the NFL, Johnson anticipated a shootout. He was mentally unprepared to downshift to a more conservative attack to account for 25-mph winds, a wind chill of four below and snow. He regrets not attempting a field goal in the first quarter on fourth-and-2 from the Rams’ 21. Williams was intercepted on the play.
“I should have changed the mindset,” he says. “I know now that the power of Soldier Field, particularly at that time of year, is a real thing. And it should be a major advantage for us, provided we recognize it and play with a certain style.”
Johnson made two rookie mistakes.
He is hardly the first to do something like that and won’t be the last. The gameplay approach was understandable. Matthew Stafford was the league MVP who’d just put up video game numbers through the air that season. One can understand why the Bears head coach would want to prepare his team, and young quarterback Caleb Williams, to fight fire with fire. The problem is that you can’t really get away with that in arctic conditions with those swirling 25 mph gusts on the lakefront. In the first half, Williams threw the ball 19 times. While he completed the majority of them, most were for shorter gains.
Meanwhile, they ran the ball 13 times for 55 yards, a solid 4.23 yards per carry. They ran another 14 in the second half for 65 yards. Ben Johnson is right to wonder what might’ve happened if he’d approached the game with a more conservative, run-first mentality. The Bears clearly had success on the ground. If they’d leaned into it from the beginning, they might’ve taken control late in the game rather than being forced to play from behind.
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As for the Odunze situation. Scoring three points there would’ve set the tone, putting the Bears ahead 3-0. Instead, the Rams scored on the subsequent drive to take the lead themselves. That allowed them to control the game’s tempo. Had Chicago scored there, Williams’ now-iconic last-season touchdown in the 4th quarter would’ve won the game instead of just forcing overtime.
Johnson’s self-reflection is so important.
Too many coaches would simply file that game away and not think about it again after it ended. They’d only want to move forward, trusting things will go better next time. Johnson doesn’t think that way. He is a man of endless analysis. He wanted to know what led to the loss. How did he contribute to it? By doing so, he quickly realized that his original way of thinking, while successful, wasn’t good enough. If he wants to be great, then he must be willing to identify his own flaws. That comes through self-scouting like this.
Many times you’ll find that coaches who finally broke through for a championship were one willing to change. Tom Coughlin famously ruled his teams with an iron fist and treated the media like plague victims. However, thanks to warnings from his family, he softened his approach in 2007, showing his team a new side of him. The New York Giants won the Super Bowl that year. It seems like Johnson is reaching similar realizations about himself and hopes to apply those lessons moving forward.
