NFL: Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images

Chicago Bears coach identifies ’emphasis’ after bye week

Originally posted on ChiCitySports | By Jordan Sigler | Last updated Oct 7, 2025 4:27 PM ET

The Chicago Bears entered their bye in Week 5 in good shape after pulling together two consecutive wins, including a rare road victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. The Bears had an extra week to clean some stuff up on offense and defense before they play an important contest against the Washington Commanders on “Monday Night Football.”

The Bears are 2-2 heading into Monday night’s game. A win over the 3-2 Commanders would be good for the Bears’ psyche, as the team folded after their loss to Washington via a Hail Mary coming out of the bye last season.

The Chicago Bears addressed their penalty problems

Per Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic, Bears head coach Ben Johnson identified the team’s goal for this week. Chicago needs to clean up penalties, something that has plagued the offensive line through the first four games.

“Offensively, we’re still a work in progress,” Johnson said. “We’re shooting ourselves in the foot quite a bit. … A lot of penalties. … That’s going to be an emphasis for us going forward. We’ve got to get the pre-snap penalties under control.”

Bears head coach Ben Johnson: "Offensively, we're still a work in progress. … We're shooting ourselves in the foot quite a bit. … A lot of penalties. … That's going to be an emphasis for us going forward. We've got to get the pre-snap penalties under control."

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) October 7, 2025

The Bears accumulated 34 penalties for 278 yards in September. Those penalties kept Chicago from being above .500 before the bye. If the Bears can keep ahead of the chains, the offense is playing good enough to keep hopes for the postseason alive.

The offensive line has been the main culprit for penalties this season, especially with right tackle Darnell Wright. There was an expectation coming into the season that it would take time for the pre-snap operation to be smooth. That appears to have been addressed during the bye week.