From personnel issues to a 'coaching fail,' the Bears can't punch the ball into the end zone

The Bears had marched all the way down to the Ravens’ 3 on the first drive Sunday when, on second-and-goal, coach Ben Johnson sent in an unusual lineup.

Running back D’Andre Swift and receivers Rome Odunze and DJ Moore — their best three skill position players — ran off the field. They were replaced by rookie running back Kyle Monangai and receivers Olamide Zaccheus and Luther Burden. Third-string tight end Durham Smythe split wide left, went in motion and blocked in front of Monangai, who took a handoff out of the shotgun.

Ravens tackle Travis Jones stepped between guard Joe Thuney and center Drew Dalman, forcing Monangai to bounce the run to the right. He turned his back to the goal line and was tackled by linebacker Teddye Buchanan for a three-yard loss.

“I think that was a coaching fail as much as anything,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said Monday. “They gave us a different front than what we anticipated and we just didn't handle that look very well. That's on me.”

It encapsulated the Bears’ struggles in the low red zone — inside the opposing 10-yard line. It was too cute by half. featured personnel that couldn’t get the job done — and failed. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked on the next play and the Bears had to settle for yet another field goal.

“We go in each week with a plan to attack the defenses that we’re anticipating, that we’re seeing on tape there,” Johnson said. “We put a lot of onus on being able to run the ball down there. I thought we could have done a little bit better inside the 10.”

That’s an understatement.

The Bears ran the ball seven times for eight yards inside the Ravens’ 10 in Sunday’s 30-16 loss, committing a false start and taking a sack. Williams went 1-for-3 for two yards, marking his first incompletions inside the 10 all year.

“This week we had some negative plays that certainly didn’t help the cause,” Johnson said.

It continued a troubling trend. Against the lowly Saints, the Bears ran six times for nine yards in the low red zone. Williams completed his only pass for three years and fumbled a snap. The Bears had a false start.

Over their last two games, the Bears have scored two touchdowns on 20 plays inside the 10 — a Swift run on third-and-goal from the 2 on Sunday and a one-yard Monangai run the week before.

“We gotta get in the end zone,” tight end Colston Loveland said.

The Bears were just as inefficient running the ball in their first five games, carrying it 10 times for 11 yards inside the 10. Williams went 6-for-6 for 32 yards and four touchdowns through the air, a success rate that’s since plummeted.

The Bears scored touchdowns on 1-of-3 trips to the red zone Sunday. bringing their season-long success rate to 47.8%, which entering Monday night’s games was the seventh-worst in the league. Only one of the teams below them has a winning record, and the six teams are a combined 12 games under .500.

Odunze called the first two drives of the game, which each ended in a field goal, a “direct example” of the red zone issues the Bears have talked about for weeks. He pointed to penalties.

“The majority is shooting ourselves in the foot. …” he said. “I don’t think there's ever been an instance where we’ve not had a penalty and executed a play properly where we haven’t scored a touchdown in the red zone.”

The Bears didn’t execute their last play properly. On fourth-and-goal from the 1 at the end of a chaotic final series, Moore was open and stopped his route in the back of the end zone. With linebacker Roquan Smith standing between Williams and Moore, the quarterback tried to lead the receiver to the right, and threw incomplete with 24 seconds left.

“We need to punch it in, in that situation…” Williams said. “It was a miscommunication.”

Earlier in the drive, Williams hit Moore for a 42-yard pass to get the Bears to the 3. The time between snaps, though, was a staggering 38 seconds as Williams limped down the field after taking a hit.

Williams threw incomplete on first down, short of the goal line to Devin Duvernay on the second and then was stuffed on a quarterback sneak on third down. It took 30 seconds — an eternity — for Williams to run the sneak, get back up and snap the ball on fourth down. Johnson said he erred by calling a play that would encourage defenders to lay on top of Williams while the clock ran.

“We wasted too much time,” he said. “We didn’t do a good job and, like I said [Sunday], I could have done a better job there as well.”

That applies to most every play the Bears have run inside the 10 the past two weeks. It’s a play-calling and personnel problem — and will be until the Bears fix it.

“I feel good about the plan that we put into place,” Johnson said. “We’ve just got to focus on our execution and our details.”