LAKE FOREST – Bears head coach Matt Eberflus met with reporters at Halas Hall on Tuesday after his team came back to beat the Minnesota Vikings on the road Monday night.

The team won its first NFC North game under Eberflus and has gone 3-3 in its past six games.

Players will focus on resting and recovering during their bye week before returning back to team facilities Monday. Here are three of the most interesting things Eberflus said Tuesday.

On the passing game plan

Eberflus said he wanted to get more explosive plays for more yardage involved in the passing game after the Bears mostly threw around the yard of scrimmage Monday.

The Vikings defense packed the middle of the field and blitzed for much of the game, which created plenty of opportunities in the perimeter.

“They give those things away,” Eberflus said. “We’ve got to do a better job of spitting the ball out there, blocking well on the perimeter, which we did at times.”

Quarterback Justin Fields attempted 16 passes behind the line according to NextGen Stats. Fields attempted 11 passes within 10 yards but three between 10-20 yards and two beyond 20 yards. D.J. Moore caught one of those 20-plus attempts was caught for 36 yards, which set up the game-winning field goal by Cairos Santos.

“They give those things away. We’ve got to do a better job of spitting the ball out there, blocking well on the perimeter, which we did at times.”

—  Matt Eberflus, Bears head coach

The playcalling worked at times when Moore would catch a pass around the line and create something out of nothing with screen blocks. But Eberflus wants more explosive plays for his quarterback who’s trying to show that he can hit on long attempts.

“When you play a team that pressures that way and they’re vulnerable in the coverage, I believe we should have more,” Eberflus said. “We’re always looking to get that up. Certainly we had some opportunities, we need to hit some more of those. We want to take advantage of those.”

On failing to turn interceptions into touchdowns

The Bears struggled to turn turnovers into more points for a second straight week. They scored 10 points off of four turnovers against the Detroit Lions in Week 11 and only scored on a field goal off of four turnovers against the Vikings on Monday.

Eberflus focused on the defense when asked about what the offense needs to do in order to score more efficiently off turnovers. He thought the defense needed to do a better job of returning the ball on interceptions, particularly Jaylon Johnson’s first interception that he returned for 19 yards.

“We should’ve had it in a better position for our offense,” Eberflus said.

The Bears offense struggled to move the ball after the defense created turnovers. They lost four yards on three plays after the first turnover, gained 12 plays on four plays on the second and earned 15 yards on five plays on the fourth. The Bears went 32 yards and scored on a 55-yard field goal in the fourth quarter after the Bears’ third turnover.

Eberflus will look for improvements during the bye week in order to turn those field goals into touchdowns.

“It’s not what you want, of course,” Eberflus said. “It’s disappointing to be able to move backwards when you have that. We have to capitalize on that momentum and those situations where our team has built momentum and we’ve got to seize the momentum at that point.”

On the running back snaps

Roschon Johnson took more of a leading role for the Bears against the Vikings.

He took part in 74% of offensive snaps Monday while Khalil Herbert played in 21%. Johnson rushed for 35 yards on 10 carries while Herbert rushed for 24 on six attempts. D’Onta Foreman was out of Monday’s game because of an ankle injury.

Eberflus said Johnson had more of a presence because of his blocking ability. Although Johnson missed a block that led to a Fields fumble in the fourth quarter, Eberflus is confident in Johnson’s ability to grow as he gets more experience as a rookie.

“He’s a heck of a worker,” Eberflus said. “Super smart, tough guy, and he’s one of our better protectors.”

Herbert has now played two games after missing five because of an ankle injury. Eberflus said Herbert it’s in good condition health-wise and running back snaps will be based on practice performance and production.

“It’s always going to be based upon that,” Eberflus said.