All the emphasis of new and different and better coming out of Bears camp all offseason ended up producing an all-too-familiar result on Monday night against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Bears blew a two-score, fourth-quarter lead and allowed 21 unanswered points before falling 27-24 in front of a distraught Soldier Field crowd.

That wasn’t how Ben Johnson’s first game as Bears head coach was supposed to go. Bears fans felt like they were in a familiar place after a heart-wrenching loss that has become all too common in these parts.

Well, they’re not. The result was unwelcome, but that doesn’t mean we’re right back where we started from. It’s fair to remain optimistic — to remember that this is a process of learning new schemes and coaches figuring out talents they can trust. It will look better in time, even though it doesn’t feel that way on this Tuesday.

Let’s sort through some of these disappointment-fueled takes in this week’s Bears overreactions:

The Bears should’ve been more aggressive in adding to their running back room

General manager Ryan Poles didn’t add to the team’s running back corps until the seventh round of the NFL draft, drafting Rutgers product Kyle Monangai. The board didn’t fall to them earlier than that, and they didn’t follow the draft with a veteran street free agent, and there were some intriguing names to choose from.

That left the Bears with D’Andre Swift as the feature back. Roschon Johnson has battled a foot injury for weeks, and Monangai didn’t get a carry in Week 1. Swift averaged just 3.1 yards per carry despite some explosive runs and seemed to struggle running between the tackles. The offensive line plays a part in that, too, but the run game didn’t assert itself enough to create the offensive balance Johnson craves.

Another, bigger back could’ve helped the Bears be more efficient. Should they have added one? Maybe, but Ben Johnson has praised Swift and the position group quite often and seemed content with the personnel he has available.

It wasn’t good enough in Week 1 – the quarterback was the leading rusher and shouldn’t be – and we’ll have to see how things operate with Johnson back in the mix – and he needs to get better in a hurry.

After a key missed field goal and a kickoff that didn’t get out of the end zone, the Bears need another kicker

Ummm, nope. While Cairo Santos did miss a 50-yarder and often takes flak for his performance kicking from distance, he was 15-for-17 from 50-plus over the last two seasons. Offensive penalties and miscues pushed Santos into deeper parts of his range, which wasn’t ideal.

There’s no doubt he had to come through and kick it out of the end zone to preserve a two-minute warning time stoppage and didn’t get the job done. He’s got to have that one. There seems to be another option of kicking it out of bounds, but Johnson went with going deep, and it didn’t work out.

In terms of replacing the kicker, especially one with a long and distinguished track record, that’s an overcorrection. Also, look at the kicker landscape. The 49ers just waived their guy. A missed field goal cost Atlanta dearly, and the Falcons brought competition in. New isn’t always better, especially with a respected team captain and someone who has come through a ton for the Bears.

Is Ben Johnson just Matt Nagy Part II?

This one shouldn’t be hard to negate. Yes, the Bears hired a young and respected offensive mind to take over their beleaguered franchise this offseason, just as they did when Matt Nagy came aboard in 2018. And yes, the last time the Bears gave up a double-digit fourth-quarter lead was in Nagy’s first game.

But Johnson has set a completely different tone this season, one centered on attention to detail and accountability when things don’t go right. Johnson is a smart, creative play caller who has surrounded himself with smart coaches. It will take some time to get ramped up, but there’s little doubt Johnson can get the Bears playing at a high level.

Also, since we’re talking about overreactions, Nagy’s public approval rating was probably pretty high in 2018, when the Bears made the playoffs. The Bears haven’t finished north of .500 since. It’s important to find stability within the culture and the operation. That’s what fans should expect (and will likely get) with Johnson over the long haul, which should outweigh a disappointment in Week 1.

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