Something was fishy about the game on Sunday at Soldier Field. The Chicago Bears didn't resemble the team they'd been for the past few months, playing with an edge and creating havoc for opponents. They appeared sluggish and bland. It wasn't until the 4th quarter that they finally came to life, erasing a 16-0 deficit to tie the game. Unfortunately, Detroit managed to survive and kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired. Head coach Ben Johnson was not happy after the game, singling out the offense for their poor effort.
Here's the problem. That entire fiasco may have been intentional.
Several people commented on how unusually vanilla the Bears appeared, not throwing out their usual scheme diversity to create matchups. Johnson even admitted to it after the game, passing it off as a game plan that should've been easy to execute.
It doesn't end there. Safety Jaquan Brisker also had an interesting comment, stating the Bears defense played a lot of man coverage in the game, seemingly more than usual. As a result, it allowed Detroit to constantly gash them with pick and rub routes. They outschemed Chicago a lot, which is not something you usually hear about a Dennis Allen defense.
Why would the Chicago Bears do this?
The simplest explanation is that Johnson didn't want to give away any of his scheming plans for the playoffs. It would've given the Green Bay Packers, their likely opponent, time to create solutions. Yet by doing this, it made life easier for the Lions. They were able to take advantage of the simple game plan and keep the Bears under control for most of the game. If this was always what Johnson aimed to do, why would he even bother playing the starters? The answer might be a little more devious than you think.
Hall of Fame basketball head coach Chuck Daly was put in charge of the iconic 1992 Olympic Dream Team, featuring players like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. The problem he had wasn't coaching the guys up. They were all the best of the best. His job was keeping them focused. So he hatched a nasty surprise. During a scrimmage against a team of top NCAA players, Daly limited Jordan's playing time and made some puzzling substitutions. As a result, the college players won 62-54.
The point of this became clear to assistant coaches later.
Daly was able to use that loss as a reminder to NBA superstars that they were capable of losing, so they'd better stay focused. It is possible Ben Johnson wanted to use a similar tactic. Rather than having a team bursting with overconfidence, he wanted the Bears agitated and hungry coming off two frustrating losses. There is a precedent for this. Chicago has won a playoff game in three of the past four years following a loss to end the regular season (2010, 2006, and 1994).
