The Bears are going to need all the effort they can muster after their embarrassing loss to the Lions. Perhaps, a bit of luck too. As they prepare to face the Cowboys, now strengthened on defense with the addition of DE Jadeveon Clowney, Coach Ben Johnson‘s squad will have a lucky charm on their side.

As Brad Biggs reported, the NFL just announced the officiating crew for the Cowboys vs. Bears game. And it’s a familiar name for the latter. “Referee Clay Martin and his crew will handle the #Bears #Cowboys game on Sunday at Soldier Field. Chicago is 3-1 in the last 4 games reffed by Martin, including the season finale last year at Lambeau Field,” Biggs wrote on X.

Clay Martin is the same referee who officiated the Bears’ previous game against the Lions. And things didn’t work out for the team, suffering a 52-21 defeat. In his eighth year as an NFL official, it was Martin’s 10th game officiating the Lions. In fact, the referee even made headlines after the Chiefs–Texans divisional round matchup earlier this year.

Kansas City benefited from a roughing-the-passer call that set up three points and an unnecessary roughness penalty on a slide, which gave 15 free yards. These calls had many scratching their heads. And soon, the talking point was the referee.

Martin defended his decisions, saying, “I had forcible contact to the facemask area and so I went with roughing the passer on that play.” For the other one, he added, “When he slides, he is considered defenseless. The onus is on the defender. I had forcible contact there to the hairline, to the helmet.” As of now, the focus is on the Bears.

The team must pull itself together and stop making the same mistakes, and it seems they are already on the move.

Coach Ben Johnson had some harsh words for the Bears’ locker room

The Bears are 0-2 this season under coach Ben Johnson. And the last game against the Lions was disastrous, with the Bears’ defense giving up over 50 points. Meanwhile, quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 207 yards, including two touchdowns. Rome Odunze, too, had the best game of his career with seven catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns, but the rest of the offense left a lot to be desired.

With Roschon Johnson being moved to the special teams because of the foot injury he has been nursing, backfield responsibilities fell on D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai—both of whom failed to impress. Meanwhile, neither TE Colston Loveland nor WR Luther Burden managed to record a single target until late in the game.

As the team is headed to face the Cowboys, the coach had some strong words for the locker room, calling out the players for not putting in the effort like a championship contender. “We should be going to the football, finishing hard. We talk about it all the time with the offensive players that our fundamentals, our finish, and our technique, they need to show up in walk-through, they need to show up on the practice field,” Johnson said.

“That’s how it shows up on game day… Ball security and things like that. It’s the little things that you learn in youth league football that even at this level, they make a huge difference,” he added. Perhaps, this tough love from the coach can add to whatever luck Clay Martin might bring for the Bears.