"Totally unacceptable" - Ben Johnson grilled by fans for "horrible" game management after Bears' meltdown vs. Vikings

The first game of Ben Johnson at the helm for the Chicago Bears had an awful finish. Despite leading 17-6 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Bears could not stop the late comeback from the Minnesota Vikings and lost 27-24 at home to a divisional rival.

One specific play caught the attention of fans. After scoring a touchdown with 2:02 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Bears had to make sure the kickoff wasn't returned by a Vikings player, which would waste enough seconds to take the game into the two-minute warning.

The Bears had just one timeout left. They had the option to kick the ball out of bounds through the laterals, which would not give the Vikings a chance to waste clock. However, Ben Johnson asked for a long kick, and kicker Cairo Santos, who does not have a strong leg, couldn't get the ball far enough.

Ty Chandler caught the ball in the end zone and returned for seven seconds, wasting more than enough time and avoiding a clock stoppage for the Bears. NFL fans were furious with Ben Johnson's decision to go long, which certainly did not help his team:

"Totally unacceptable there. If you aren’t 100% sure you can kick it out of the end zone, kick it out of bounds", said one fan.

"Ben Johnson is a horrible coach. Kick it out of bounds", a second wrote.

"Johnson needs to rain hell fire down on this team, this was totally unacceptable. 12 penalties for 127 yards is the worst and most undisciplined performance I have ever seen out of a team", a third criticized.

Ian Rivers 🦫 ⚡️

@riversian347

Complete mismanagement of the late game there by Ben Johnson. Football coaches need to play football video games more to learn these situational skills. Horrible.

𝓜𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓵 🇦🇺

@CMBInThe6

This process was horrible by Ben Johnson Not going for an onside to Atleast give your team a chance to get the ball back with time to do anything is insane Tough break

Ricky O'Donnell

@SBN_Ricky

10 stupid penalties, a terrible challenge, and poor game management on the kickoff. Ben Johnson I still like you but that was sobering.

Cairo Santos' missed kick also upset Ben Johnson in second half

It was not a great night for the Brazilian kicker. Apart from the failed long kickoff attempt, Santos also missed a 50-yard field goal in the fourth quarter that could've taken the score to 20-6, and making the Vikings' mission even more difficult.

Had Santos scored the field goal, the Bears would've at least taken the game to overtime with a 27-27 score. Instead, Chicago lost the first game of the season.