Bears coach Ben Johnson goes for it from his own 32-yard line, comes up short in big gamble

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NFL coaches have gone from never going on fourth downs unless it was a fairly obvious situation to going for it from nearly anywhere on the field.

Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson is a risk taker, just like his former boss, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell. And he will have Bears fans questioning his aggressiveness after Saturday night.

With the Bears trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, the Bears had a fourth-and-5 at their own 32. For decades, that was an obvious punting situation. Even with the current trend of going for it often on fourth down, a fourth-and-5 already in the opponents’ field-goal range is rare.

Johnson went for it. The shotgun snap wasn’t great and then Caleb Williams’ pass was batted down at the line. The Packers took over at the Bears’ 32-yard line.

The Packers took advantage on their own fourth-down plays. The Packers went for it on fourth-and-1 after the Bears’ gamble and got to the 1-yard line, with Romeo Doubs recovering a fumble in the end zone when Christian Watson tried to jump over a defender for a touchdown. Because it came on fourth down, Doubs couldn’t advance the fumble and it came back to the 1-yard line. The Packers couldn’t punch it in on the first three plays but on fourth down Jordan Love hit Doubs for a touchdown and a 21-3 Packers lead.

Johnson is a rookie head coach but will do unconventional things and is unapologetic about taking risks that don’t work out. In his first playoff game he wasn’t scared to go for it. He went for it two other times earlier in the game and went 1-for-2, once from his own 38 and the other from the Packers’ 40, with the latter being intercepted downfield.

Aggressive calls in fourth-down situations don’t look good when they fail. And the Bears put themselves in a hole when their fourth-down try didn’t work out.

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