Ben Johnson admits to screwing up Bears’ final play

On Monday, Johnson took the blame for not getting the playcall to Williams quickly enough to allow him to have success.

“We didn’t quite get aligned in the formation we wanted to,” Johnson said. “It’s on me. I didn’t give him the call fast enough, and so he’s trying to piecemeal it together. I gotta do a better job on that.”

The Bears also received some criticism for their clock management late in the game. Johnson did not use his timeouts until the final minute of the fourth quarter, and the Bears may have been able to take more shots at the end zone had he used them earlier. In addition, the play that set up first and goal ran 16 seconds off the clock before Williams could spike the ball.

This is not the first time Johnson’s clock management in a late-game situation has been questioned this year. It is good that these lessons are being learned before the playoffs, but the important thing is that he does not keep making the same mistakes.

Chicago’s loss on Sunday eliminated them from the race for the NFC’s top seed. They can still lock down the No. 2 seed if they beat the Detroit Lions in Week 18.