Penalty issues continue dogging Bears both warranted and otherwise

A third-and-28 short Rattler pass to Brandin Cooks became a first down on Sunday's play due to Brisker's penalty. He hit Rattler's throwing arm and his hand slid off and hit the top of the QB's helmet.

"Really, (it's) just part really being under control, have better technique," Brisker said. "That one yesterday was a pretty tight call. I pushed the elbow, the ball was already out and then I don't know what happened out there. I guess when the ball's out I feel like the play is supposed to be a forced fumble at that point. I don't know, I've got to keep looking into it.

“But from my vantage point I've really just got to have better technique, and be under control and those would be more cleaner plays."

That list includes an offensive pass interference penalty on Colston Loveland and a roughing call on Kyler Gordon for a hit when he broke up a pass. 

A week earlier, coach Ben Johnson used tongue-in-cheek  humor regarding what seemed like officiating gaffes but refused to get involved in controversy.

Aside from his own team's obvious and irritating presnap penalties, he was even less interested in calls during the Saints game.  

"Generally speaking, I don’t put too much stock in how the  game’s officiated," Johnson said. There’s things beyond our control.

"We’re going to coach it up as well as we possibly can and over the course of those 60 minutes, we just stay consistent. Some calls are going to come our way, some aren’t, and we’ll keep it moving. If I feel like there’s something we don’t have clarity on, then I’ll stay away from some of those play calls that might give us a bad spot or something like that."

It doesn't mean the Bears will keep from submitting video of plays to ask the league for explanations.

"There are some things over the course of the first six weeks that we need a  little clarity on from the league in terms of how we can coach it better," Johnson said. "That’s what we send in. Other than that, we don’t talk a whole lot during the game about it (officiating).”

Johnson's chief focus remains on presnap issues like false starts or illegal formations.

"We have to get it all cleaned up," he said. "Good teams don’t have so many self-inflicted wounds.”

An interesting side note to the Bears penalty issue is which teams in the league are penalized most. During his Monday press conference, Jacksonville coach Liam Coen pointed out four of the top five most penalized teams going into Monday night games have first-year head coaches.

The 2025 Bears penalty log

• The Bears' five roughing-the-passer penalties are an NFL high per NFLpenalties.com.

• The Bears average 8.8 penalties a game, which is second most in the league.

• Bears opponents average 5.0 penalties per game, the second fewest.

• The Bears have had more penalties than their opponents in every game this season.

Game by Game Count

Week 1: Bears 12, Vikings 8

Week 2: Bears 8, Lions 3

Week 3: Bears 6, Cowboys 4

Week 4: Bears 8, Raiders 5

Week 5: Bye

Week 6: Bears 9, Commanders 5

Week 7: Bears 10, Saints 5