GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the first time since his very early days coaching the Bears, Ben Johnson looked like he was out of answers Sunday against the Packers.
Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent couldn’t get anything going, so Johnson tried Case Keenum in the fourth quarter. Nothing. The rushing attack never found a groove. No one stepped up as a go-to option in the passing game.
Play after play failed, and the Packers crushed the Bears 31-7 at Lambeau Field. It was the most lopsided and embarrassing loss for Johnson since the Lions ran him out of the building in his second game last season.
‘‘When you can’t get in a rhythm offensively, I’ve got to look at myself first,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘What do we have in? Did we prepare the right way? What [were] the play-calls?’’
Johnson credited Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon for having his number all day and said, ‘‘We knew we were going to get their best shot, and we sure did.’’ But he still was frustrated that his team undermined itself with errors.
It was the Bears’ first game since the death Friday of former coach Mike Ditka, and players wore a No. 89 decal on their helmets in honor of the number he wore as a Bears tight end in the 1960s. The Packers held a moment of silence for Ditka before the game.
Johnson immersed himself in this rivalry with his ‘‘[Expletive] the Packers’’ rant last season and by exchanging snippy shots with coach Matt LaFleur, but there was none of that after this one. He and LaFleur met briefly afterward, and Johnson appeared to say, ‘‘Good job,’’ while shaking LaFleur’s hand with a grimace.
He must have thought his team was beyond something this ugly, even with a backup quarterback. This is the same coach who felt emboldened enough to set his sights on the 2013 Broncos’ single-season scoring record and a trip to the Super Bowl.
Who could deny him after the Bears opened with 59 points against the Panthers? They’ve totaled 60 in four games since then, however, and they now would need to average nearly 44 a game to set the record.
That’s overly ambitious, even with the possibility of quarterback Caleb Williams returning Sunday against the Falcons.
A week earlier, when Bagent was mediocre against the Jets, No. 2 running back Kyle Monangai was the engine of the offense with 146 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He missed the game against the Packers with a toe injury, and no one else showed up to save the day. Bagent completed 12 of 21 passes for 87 yards with two interceptions for a 27.4 passer rating before Johnson benched him.
‘‘Super-disappointed but really can’t look any further than the mirror,’’ Bagent said. ‘‘It really, starting with me, just didn’t go our way.’’
There was a flicker late in the third quarter when Bagent connected with tight end Colston Loveland for a seven-yard pass on fourth-and-four with the Bears down 23-7, but he threw an interception on the next play. Gannon fooled Bagent by showing a Cover 0 defense (no safety deep) before the snap, then the Packers flipped to a Cover 2 and had safety Xavier McKinney in perfect position to beat Loveland to the ball for his second pick of the game.
Keenum was no better. He walked into a golden opportunity at the Packers’ 31-yard line and threw an interception in the end zone on fourth-and-goal. He also lost a fumble and finished 11-for-19 for 108 yards and a 52.1 rating.
Unwilling to concede, Johnson kept swinging to the end and had Keenum throw deep on fourth-and-21 from his own 21-yard line with 1:10 left.
A week after running an NFL-season-high 89 plays and racking up 492 yards in a punt-free victory against the Jets, the Bears managed only 246 yards against the Packers — their fewest under Johnson — and went 4-for-14 on third down.
That reheated the debate about whether Johnson should have stuck with Keenum, who lit up the Eagles in the Bears’ first game after Williams’ hamstring injury. Johnson wouldn’t say whom he would start against the Falcons if Williams remains out.
The Bears need everything Williams brings: dual-threat playmaking, improvisational wizardry and electric energy. Johnson has managed his absence in the short term, and it’s not the end of the world to sit 3-2 with Williams on the verge of coming back. But Johnson’s playbook alone can’t carry the Bears for the long run.
Williams progressed from throwing on the side last week to practicing partially Friday to working out at Lambeau Field before the game. He appears to be on track to step back into his spot at practice Wednesday, but when Johnson was asked about him playing against the Falcons, he said, ‘‘It’s going to be close.’’
If there’s anything uncertain about Williams’ health, it would be prudent for the Bears to hold him out until a game against the Patriots the following Thursday. Two games in five days might not be ideal for Williams coming off his injury, and the Bears will have an extended break after the game against the Patriots leading up to their visit Nov. 2 to the defending champion Seahawks.
But for whatever amount of time the Bears have to wait for Williams, it’s on Johnson to figure out a solution. His ability to adjust and pivot has been his hallmark as the Bears’ coach, but he ran out of moves Sunday.
