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Ben Johnson Reveals the Study That Fixed the Bears' Worst In-Game Habit

Chicago spent the offseason studying why it couldn't close out first halves, running live game situations in practice ahead of Sunday's trip to Carolina.
Gene Chamberlain|
Whether it was Caleb Williams and the offense or their defense, the Bears had this one major issue last year and have tried to fix it.
Whether it was Caleb Williams and the offense or their defense, the Bears had this one major issue last year and have tried to fix it. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

The Bears spent much of the offseason work and a big part of their scrimmage time in training camp trying to fix something football fans rarely consider.

It was a weakness like their tendency to start slow on offense, but it was even worse because it affected their offense, defense and special teams. Now it's time to see if it worked.

They practiced situational football, in particular the end of the first half. Everyone practices two-minute drills but the Bears were practicing actual situations just before the half, focusing on the offense and defense with a big emphasis because they completely stunk at finishing second quarters all last year. They addressed this all of the time with the clock and down and distance showing at practices.

"I think a big jump that we would love to make is the end-of-half situations," coach Ben Johnson said. "Finding a way to score some points before halftime and limiting the retaliatory drives that can be a response there, that's been something we've talked about since the springtime and throughout camp.

"We'll see if we can bring that to light or not. It takes some coordination of all three phases working together to get that done the best way. There's some things like that that pop up."

A study was needed

They conducted an actual study into the whole thing. They almost never netted a strong conclusion to a half and frequently had disasters. It's a situation they can't repeat against this more difficult schedule.

The tip to what was going to happen came in the first game. They had possession, failed to get a touchdown but took it down to 28 seconds for a Cairo Santos field goal against the Vikings, then gave up a 59-yard J.J. McCarthy pass to Jalen Nailor that let the Vikings get momentum and pull within 10-6 at halftime of a Bears loss.

The following week, officials botching a clock matter at the end of the half let Detroit go in leading 28-14 instead of either 21-14 or 24-14. Regardless of the officials' error, the defense did give up a long drive that snuffed out chances for a comeback.

Maybe the only strong finish to a half came in their big win over Dallas in Week 3. Cole Kmet ended a 66-yard drive with a 10-yard TD catch of Caleb Williams' throw with 25 seconds remaining. It let the Bears take a 24-14 lead after they had blown a 14-3 lead to start the game.

Beyond that, it was a comedy of errors on both sides of the football as halftime approached. Fortunately, they closed games better. Apparently, it took the Iceman into the second half to heat up, or cool down, or whatever he does.

"I think we went into a deep dive during the springtime and certainly when they came back for OTAs we showed all of those clips of why we weren't good at two-minute before half versus why we were good in two-minute at the end of the game, and it was a tale of two stories there," Johnson said. "So hopefully we can bring a little bit of that magic from the end of the game to the end of the half.”

They can't stand this again against Carolina Sunday.

For anyone interested enough to brave a long list of screwed-up 2025 second-quarter conclusions, here they are. Enjoy:

  • Week 1: A 27-24 loss to Vikings. Led only 10-6 instead of 10-3 after a 59-yard Reicchard field goal to match the Soldier Field record. They led 10-3 after Cairo Santos' 42-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the half.
  • Week 2: A 52-21 loss at Detroit. Trailed 21-14 after a touchdown but let the Lions drive 76 yards in 1:55 to a 4-yard Amon-Ra St. Brown TD catch from Jared Goff. Officials mistakenly stopped the clock for the Lions after a 29-yard pass to Jared TeSlaa near the sideline put them inside the 5.
  • Week 3: In the 31-14 win, they finished the half with Williams' 10-yard TD pass to Kmet with 25 seconds remaining and managed to prevent a follow-up drive for a 24-14 lead.
  • Week 4: In the 25-24 win over the Raiders, Santos kicked a 52-yard field goal got them within 14-9. This was an acceptable close but it should have been much better. They had the ball at the Raiders' 34 and had consecutive incompletions before the field goal.
  • Week 6: In the 25-24 win at Washington, they could have been in much better shape. They forced a Matt Gay 52-yard field goal that hit the upright, took over with 1:10 left at their 40 and went 3-and-out, including a sack of Williams. They pinned Washington back with a punt and led 13-7 at the half but is could have easily been 16-7 or 20-7.
  • Week 7: A 26-14 win over the Saints could have been easier. They led 20-7 but stuffed Alvin Kamara on fourth-and-1 for a loss at their 43. With 1:38 left they could move it only 6 yards from their 43 after two incompletions and a short toss to Olamide Zaccheaus. Then, after punting, Spencer Rattler burned them with a 57-yard pass to Chris Olave and a 21-yard TD to Olave with 27 seconds left. The Bears led only 20-14.
  • Week 8: The 30-16 loss at Baltimore was close until the end. They trailed 10-6 at halftime after an intentional grounding on Williams throwing to Colston Loveland. The had to try a 58-yard field goal that came up short. They had given up a 42-yard field goal with 1:06 remaining before their last drive.
  • Week 9: The wild 47-42 win at Cincinnati had a horrible first-half ending for Chicago. The defense gave up a 44-yard Joe Flacco-to-Tee Higgins TD right after a completion of 19 yards to Ja'Marr Chase. But the Bears moved to the Bengals' 29 with a 23-yard, third-and-2 completion to DJ Moore. Williams then threw three straight incompletions while the Bears still had a timeout left. Then Santos' 47-yard field goal was blocked. They trailed 20-17 going in at halftime.
  • Week 10: In a 24-20 win over the Giants, a four-minute drive put it at the Giants' 33 but a fourth-and-4 gamble ended in Williams' incompletion to Swift with 1:08 before the half. They Giants then drove to a 32-yard field goal, aided by Jaxson Dart's 25-yard pass. New York led 10-7 at the half.
  • Week 11: Their 19-17 win over the Vikings had maybe their second-best end to the half. They allowed a 36-yard Vikings drive inside the final two minutes, but Nahshon Wright saved the day with an interception in the end zone with 1:!8 left. They had time to score but Theo Benedet put the offense in a deeper hole with a false start and they wound up punting with 10 seconds remaining while owning a 10-3 lead.
  • Week 12: In their 31-28 win over Pittsburgh, they got hoodwinked by a fourth-and-1 fake tush push for a 56-yard Kenneth Gainwell run, then Jaylen Warren's 1-yard TD run with 1:23 left. With plenty of time to respond, they did but they only got a 47-yard Santos field goal and had the chance for more. And Williams actually threw an interception to start the drive butJoey Porter fumbled it back on his return.
  • Week 13: Even their satisfying 25-14 win on Black Friday over the Eagles could have had a better close to the first half. They forced a punt, took over with 1:36 left in the half, got to their 43 with two timeouts left, but Darnell Wright's holding call killed the drive with the Bears up 10-3.
  • Week 14: The 28-21 loss at Green Bay might have looked different with a better halftime ending. They accepted a 33-yard Santos field goal to end a 14-play drive with 1:!7 left, failing with a pass for a 4-yard loss on third-and-8. But then they gave up a 45-yard touchdown pass by Jordan Love to Bo Melton. They got it back with 38 seconds left but a sack of Williams ended that threat and they trailed 14-3.
  • Week 15: Even the 31-3 rout of Cleveland didn't have an ideal first-half Bears conclusion. The defense got an Austin Booker sack on third down to force a punt from the Bears' 38, but a three-and-out ensued. They forced another Cleveland punt and had a chance to score themselves after moving to the Browns 42. They wasted 20 full seconds on a 7-yard completion to Luther Burden before using a timeout, then had to try a catch-and-lateral on the final play of the half from the 42 and came up short, although they had a 14-0 lead at halftime.
  • Week 16: In the magical comeback win over Green Bay, they gave up a 16-play drive leading to Brandon McManus' 22-yard field goal, although they did stop the drive after the Packers had first-and-goal at the 5. Then they got the ball back at their 35 with 1:41 left and after a 14-yard completion to Loveland at the 49, they gained only 6 more yards and punted
  • Week 17: Losing 28-21 in the second quarter during a 42-38 loss when everyone seemed to end each drive with a score, the half's ending for everyone was a complete dud. The Bears took over at their 31 and had a 3-and-out before punting. The 49ers used up rest of half getting to the 50 on a 17-yard Christian MCCaffrey run.
  • Week 18: The 19-16 loss to Detroit to end the regular season easily could have been different had they scored on their drive before the half. A fourth-and-2 completion to Colston Loveland was fumbled away. Officials ruled it incomplete on the replay anyway. Then the Lions moved it to try a 53-yard field goal after a 17-yard St. Brown catch, but missed.
  • Wild card playoffs: There was nothing good to close the half in their miracle comeback win over the Packers. A drive inside the two-minute warning died at the Packers' 37 on a fourth-and-4 incompletion to Loveland. At least they didn't get burned by the play with 1:18 left, but almost. The Packers quickly drove on Love completions of 16 and 11 yards to McManus' 55-yard field goal try but it missed.
  • Divisional playoffs: The overtime playoff loss to the Rams set up for a good ending to the half as Santos kicked a 48-yard field goal in poor conditions, but they had a simple third-and-4 to negotiate before that and Williams threw incomplete to Loveland. Then, they gave up a 27-yard completion from Stafford to tight end Tyler Higbee and let up a 66-yard drive to a 32-yard field goal that knotted the score 10-10 at halftime.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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