Bears' Ben Johnson reveals late-season issue to fix for Rams playoff game

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson during Detroit Lions game

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Matthew Couden

By Matthew Couden

Contributing Writer

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In the Chicago Bears' opening round victory over the Green Bay Packers, Ben Johnson's team received more late-game heroics from quarterback Caleb Williams and his teammates to pick up a thrilling comeback win, 31-27.

However, they'll now face a Los Angeles Rams team featuring Matthew Stafford, the favorite to win NFL Most Valuable Player, and a talented offense coached by Sean McVay. According to Johnson, his team has had a noticeable issue with their offense lately that they're looking to fix ahead of this playoff matchup.

Asked about the team’s run game in the past several weeks, Johnson admitted “it feels like it’s dipped a little bit,” and it's not the most ideal time for that issue to occur. However, the Bears' head coach delivered a message on improving the problem as they head into their next playoff game at Soldier Field.

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“Not something that we certainly want. Certainly, late in the season, we wanted that to pick up with playoffs, weather games like this,” he said.

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson during Detroit Lions game

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“You certainly want to be able to lean on your run game," Johnson told reporters Wednesday, adding, "Those are some elements we’re looking at. What can we do to help ignite that? It’s both efficient runs, stay on track, and ahead of the chains, and also explosive runs as well. Where can we find a few of those?”

In their game against the Packers, Chicago had 93 rushing yards, with more than half of them from D’Andre Swift. However, rookie Kyle Monangai and Williams combined for another 47.

That said, the passing game has been where Chicago excelled recently, including against the Packers. Williams shook off two interceptions and finished with 361 yards and two touchdowns in the comeback.

Chicago's run game was praised throughout many of their wins as impressive, thanks to the running back duo of Swift and Monangai, and they'll hope to rediscover it in their NFC Divisional Round clash.

As of this report, the Bears rank seventh among playoff teams in rushing, averaging 93 yards per game. That’s below the Green Bay team they beat, and the Philadelphia Eagles, who lost to the San Francisco 49ers in their Wild Card game.

The Bears enter Sunday’s playoff game as underdogs of 3.5 points or more, with many wondering how they can slow down the Rams’ offense. However, Johnson seemingly identified a key to that if the Bears’ players can run the ball effectively and control the time of possession.