The Bears’ 31-7 loss to the Packers had plenty of fingerprints on it, but one decision loomed over everything else: Ben Johnson’s call to go with Tyson Bagent and stick with him long enough for Green Bay to seize full control.
Chicago fell to 3-2 after a game that got away early and never really came back. With Caleb Williams still on the shelf, the Bears needed steadiness. Instead, they got a setup that left them chasing from the start, and that’s where the criticism lands squarely on Johnson.
There was a different path available. Case Keenum offered the kind of veteran presence that can settle an offense, and he had already shown he could handle a respected defense by dismantling Philadelphia two weeks earlier. Chicago passed on that approach and chose the younger Bagent, a move that only made sense if the hook was going to be quick once the offense stalled.
That didn’t happen.
Johnson has earned real credit for winning two games without Williams, and that part of the story doesn’t disappear because Sunday went sideways. But this was a step in the wrong direction, a rare miss from a coach who had mostly pushed the right buttons while the Bears kept pace in the NFC North.
The problem also wasn’t just the quarterback choice. Johnson’s long history of trash talk and his clear distaste for Matt LaFleur made this trip more combustible than it needed to be. Green Bay was always going to come after Chicago hard, which only made the need for sharper quarterback management more obvious.
Some fans will point out that Keenum didn’t exactly light it up after entering the game. But by then the situation had already changed. He was dropped into a game that was out of hand, without the benefit of a game plan built around him the way Chicago had used him so effectively against Philadelphia.
So yes, the Bears’ time without Williams still counts as a success overall. Two wins and a spot near the top of the NFC North picture are more than most would have expected. But Sunday was still a failure, and Johnson should own the part of it that set the whole thing in motion.
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