Bears head coach Ben Johnson appeared on a Zoom press conference Tuesday afternoon, with adequate time to reflect, examine and analyze what went wrong in a 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings the day before.

Johnson didn’t sugarcoat in an attempt to create spin or a rosier outlook, even if it painted himself in a less-flattering light. He had quite a few regrets, actually, and owned up to them as the Bears transition towards a Week 2 contest at Detroit.

That’s unique and refreshing, that such a disappointment was met with candor over coachspeak. It’s also a display of confidence to be so forthright, believing better’s around the corner.

Johnson was straightforward and said he didn’t like how he called the game. And that he regretted two late-game decisions that made the Bears’ comeback attempt a little bit harder.

Let’s start broad, with Johnson’s role in the offensive flow overall.

“I didn’t think I called a particularly great game,” Johnson said. “I could’ve adjusted a little bit better to the lack of pressure that (Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores) was giving us. I can do a better job there.”

The Bears started the game strong, with a touchdown on their opening offensive sequence. Flores has a reputation for bringing exotic blitzes and pressures as a regular part of defensive game plan. That didn’t happen as much as Johnson expected.

“There was less pressure than what he is accustomed to doing,” he said. “It was more four-man rush, which was probably a testament to the interior guys he added. He felt like he could get pressure on our quarterback with just four rather than his normal five or six. He saw the first drive. We were able to make it down the field and score a touchdown and then we kept shooting ourselves in the foot, whether it was penalties, lack of a rushing game.

“We were in a number of second-and-longs that turned into third-and-longs and that’s not a way you want to live particularly against a good play caller like that and a talented defensive front and secondary like they have.”

While Johnson didn’t love his play calling, he was also frank about the fact the offense could’ve executed better overall, especially in protection and avoiding pre-snap penalties that have plagued them all summer. This loss was an everyone thing, and Johnson didn’t fall on his sword to save others.

There were two second half sticking points that tangentially impacted each other. The first was a pass from Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy to tight end T.J. Hockenson. Hockenson was ruled down by contact, though linebacker Noah Sewell believed he had ripped the ball free and forced a fumble. It was a close play that Johnson chose to challenge despite some video evidence that Hockenson was in fact down.

“I thought I saw knees up and so that’s on me,” Johnson said. “I’ve got to do a better job listening to the guys up top. I get influenced a little bit for the first time with the people around me and I’ve just got to stay true to the process.

“…that’s a big one right there. That timeout in the second half, those things are very valuable and having that at the end of the game would have been huge for us.”

The lost challenge cost Johnson a timeout he desperately needed at the end of the game, when trailing by three points with roughly two minutes left. The Bears scored on a Rome Odzune touchdown catch two seconds shy of the two-minute warning.

The Bears needed to execute a kickoff that didn’t take time off the clock to preserve the clock stoppage. Johnson had a few options, but instructed Cairo Santos to kick it out of the end zone. Santos didn’t get it far enough. The Vikings returned the kick and the Bears lost the two-minute warning.

The Vikings ended up going three-and-out but the Bears got possession with nine seconds left. Johnson estimated that a properly executed kick could’ve left 56 seconds on the clock. Another timeout saved from not challenging the Hockenson call gives them even more opportunity to complete a comeback.

“I felt like we could kick it out of the back (of the end zone),” Johnson said. “We weren’t able to get that done. In hindsight, I should’ve kicked it out of bounds.”

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