Ben Johnson Says Bears Should've Kicked Final Kickoff out of Bounds in Loss to Vikings

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson discussed the team's kickoff decision late in the fourth quarter of a 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday.

Johnson told reporters that he should have called for his team to kick the ball out of bounds in order to preserve time.

Johnson also understood the frustration from fans at Soldier Field that started booing the team after blowing an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter.

After the Bears scored a touchdown to pull within three points of the Vikings with just over two minutes left in the game, they had one timeout remaining to go along with the two-minute warning.

On the ensuing kickoff, Chicago's Cairo Santos kicked the ball deep into the end zone. It was then returned by Vikings running back Ty Chandler, allowing the two-minute warning to hit.

If Santos kicked the ball out of bounds, it would have resulted in a penalty that would've prevented the clock from moving. In that case, the Bears would still have the two-minute warning at their disposal to go along with their lone timeout.

While Chicago eventually stopped Minnesota on the late possession, it ended up getting the ball back with a mere nine seconds left in the fourth quarter. Assuming the Bears kicked the ball out of bounds and forced the Vikings to punt, roughly 40 more seconds would have been on the clock for their final drive.

▶️ Full Vikings-Bears Recap

04:40

Even though it wasn't guaranteed that Caleb Williams and Chicago's offense would have marched down the field for a game-tying field goal or go-ahead touchdown, the Bears' inability to kick the ball out of bounds allowed the Vikings to take more time off the clock and prevented them from possibly doing so.