Right at the beginning of the fourth quarter, kicker Cairo Santos kicked a 50-yard field goal to extend the Chicago Bears’ lead to 31-7 against the Atlanta Falcons. Even though it was still technically a three-possession game and the entire fourth quarter was left, head coach Ben Johnson decided to put some of Chicago’s depth players in, especially on defense.
Doing so allowed the Falcons to get back into the game and make it an eight-point game. Atlanta got the ball back with 3:34 left on the clock and the chance to tie up the game if they were able to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion. While cornerback Kyler Gordon was ultimately able to force a fumble, which effectively sealed the victory for the Bears, it still never should have gotten this close.
After the game, Johnson explained the decision to pull defensive starters early in the fourth quarter, which was impacted by the fact that Chicago is playing again on Thursday night against the New England Patriots.
“You’re trying to thread the needle a little bit. If we didn’t have the Thursday night game, I don’t know that we’d do things like we did," Johnson said. "So that’s part of the equation. I do believe if we hadn’t had that fumble on offense, that maybe we would’ve gotten out of there the way that we wanted to,” Johnson said. “But things happen, and we’ve got to keep playing. We know that’s the case, especially with an offense like that. Once again, we’re trying to thread the needle and do what’s best for us. Not just [that] we had to win this game first and foremost, which we did. But of course, we want to think long term also.”
Both the Bears and the Patriots will come into the game with a 4-2 record coming off wins in Week 6. New England quarterback Drake Maye had three touchdown passes in their most recent victory and now has 10 touchdowns in the last three games. So, Chicago’s defense will have their work cut out for them.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ben Johnson explains decision to pull Bears starters in fourth quarter