The Chicago Bears might have a winning record right now, but sitting at 4-3 in a division with the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers doesn’t exactly guarantee playoffs. Cracks are showing, and the biggest one is the red zone offense. Quarterback Caleb Williams is clearly fighting through some growing pains, and one Bears legend thinks HC Ben Johnson deserves a big chunk of the blame.

“I would like to see him get his quarterback going. Caleb has three interceptions and two touchdowns in the last four games. The critical interception he threw against the Ravens, I put that on Ben Johnson. I think that offense is all tied together, waiting for the schemes, the concepts, to put the ball in the red zone,” Bears legend Olin Kreutz said on the ‘Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams. 

Even last year under Matt Eberflus, the Bears’ red-zone game was painful to watch. They averaged only 18 points per game and made it inside the 20-yard line just a little over twice per game. Things have improved somewhat this year, but not enough to feel confident about surviving in the NFC North gauntlet.

Per Sports Illustrated, Chicago sits at 15th in red-zone trips per game (3.3) and 15th in scoring (24 points per game). The real problem is what happens once they actually get close. They’re punching in touchdowns on fewer than half of their red-zone drives (47.8%), which ranks an ugly 26th in the league.

While Kreutz puts most of that on Johnson’s shoulders, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle says it’s not that simple.

“The red-zone struggles have been on all of us. You might look at it and say, ‘Hey, there’s one play,’ I look at it and say there’s four plays that if our precision and our detail is better on any one of those four plays, we probably come away with seven points in both of those first two drives,” he said.

Kreutz even ended up assigning a grade to Ben Johnson’s offense.

Kreutz gives the Bears’ offense a ‘C’

“Got a give them at least a ‘C’. The offense isn’t scoring yet. And I didn’t have them at over .500, I had them under when the season started. When I looked at their roster, at what they could be, they’re right around when I thought they would be. Actually, the winning record is not where I thought they would be.”

“And you could argue that the 15 takeaways are the reason they have a winning record. But I think Ben Johnson got this team playing for him, believing in him. Now the offense gotta put points on the board. 16 points in Baltimore is not enough.”

And he’s right. Whether you’re blaming Williams for the mistakes or Johnson for the scheme, this offense is sputtering. Since that big 31-14 win over the Cowboys in which Williams threw four touchdowns, he’s totaled just two scores and three interceptions in four games. They’ve managed to scrape out three wins in that stretch, but that’s not going to fly once they face stronger teams.

According to TruMedia, the Bears’ red-zone expected points added (EPA) is -11.04, ranking them 28th in the league. Add to that seven penalties inside the 20-yard line, tied for second most. And when you put up 16 points against a Baltimore defense that’s been so bad this season, it’s pretty concerning.

At this point, it’s not just on Williams or Johnson. The play-calling, execution, and discipline all need work. It’ll be interesting to see what the offense can produce against the Bengals’ defense next week, which has been one of the worst in the league this season.