Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson met with reporters virtually Monday, a day after the team ended the regular season with a 19-16 loss to the Detroit Lions.

Sunday felt like a deflating way to end what was a memorable regular season. The Bears came out flat against the Lions and couldn’t complete their seventh fourth-quarter comeback of the season. Despite the loss, Chicago still earned the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs after the Washington Commanders beat the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now it’s do-or-die time. The Bears will open the playoffs Saturday night at Soldier Field when they host their longtime rival, the Green Bay Packers, in the Wild Card round. Here are three of the most interesting things Johnson said Monday.

On fixing offensive issues

Another slow offensive start played a role in Sunday’s loss.

The Bears didn’t get much going offensively during the first three quarters when the Lions shut them out. Chicago had 69 total yards of offense in the first half and only started to build momentum late in the third quarter when it trailed 16-0.

It was the same old story offensively. In its four games against the Packers, San Francisco 49ers and Lions in December and January, the offense scored a total of 17 points in the first half. Fourteen of those points came against the 49ers. Chicago did score 14 points against the 3-11 Cleveland Browns in December as well.

Despite the slow starts, Johnson doesn’t believe he and his staff need to do anything different to correct those issues for the playoffs. He said everything could be addressed and believed the offense wasn’t far from fixing the mistakes.

“I trust the process that we’ve put in,” Johnson said. “I’m not all of a sudden going to start changing up the calls. We work all week on these things, we practice them, and we feel good about them going into the game. Just like anything that we’ve done all season long is, if there’s something that needs to be addressed, we bring it up, make it a point of emphasis, and the guys usually do a really good job of finding a way to fix it.”

Although Johnson was optimistic about the offense, that doesn’t mean he was happy. Johnson was clearly irritated with the lack of production offensively and voiced his displeasure with the unit after Sunday’s loss.

Johnson said his strong message was received “fairly well” and looked forward to seeing how they respond during the week.

“That’s really the end all be all is the response we’ll get over the course of practice,” Johnson said. “These guys, they’re pros. They know. I didn’t tell them anything that they didn’t already know. We’re capable of a lot on offense. The standard is very high, and when we as a unit feel like we’ve fallen short, we call it out, we address it and we get better from it.”

On moving on from a disappointing loss

Sunday was a letdown from the Bears. But this week won’t be the first time they have to respond to adversity.

Johnson showed his ability to rally his team when Chicago began the season 0-2. The Bears responded by winning four straight games, including two fourth-quarter comebacks. They did the same after a loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8 by winning five straight and then won back-to-back games after a last-minute loss against the Packers in Week 14.

What worked earlier in the season won’t necessarily work this time around. But Johnson remained confident the Bears could respond to adversity once again.

“I wish there was a secret sauce,” Johnson said. “It starts with the type of people that you have in the building. That’s kind of been something that we’ve highlighted with guys that we’ve brought in, both from a free agency perspective, but also with these draft picks, that they’re going to be poised under pressure and that they’re going to rise to the occasion when the lights are bright like this.”

The Bears won’t have much time to let Sunday’s loss stew. The players had an off day Monday and return to Halas Hall on Tuesday in preparation for Saturday’s game.

That was fine for Johnson, who looked forward to moving on.

“We’ll make our corrections, and we’ll quickly turn the page,” Johnson said. “We don’t have to sulk on what happened yesterday, and they understand that. We talked about that at the end of the game. I think we’re going to be good turning the page, but the things that need to get cleaned up, we’re going to clean up.”

On preparing for playoff football

Saturday’s game will be the first playoff game for many Bears.

Tight end Cole Kmet, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and kicker Cairo Santos are the lone members remaining from the 2020 Bears roster that qualified for the playoffs. Chicago has brought in other players who’ve had playoff experience, most notably left guard Joe Thuney, who’s won four Super Bowls.

“I trust the process that we’ve put in. I’m not all of a sudden going to start changing up the calls. We work all week on these things, we practice them and we feel good about them going into the game. Just like anything that we’ve done all season long is if there’s something that needs to be addressed, we bring it up, make it a point of emphasis and the guys usually do a really good job of finding a way to fix it.”

—  Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears head coach

Johnson himself has some playoff experience, going 2-2 as the Lions’ offensive coordinator over the past two seasons. He and the other players will try to prepare those without experience as much as they can for what playoff football is like.

“You can try to describe it as much as you can, but until you go through it yourself first-hand, I think that’s the best way to learn,” Johnson said. “I think we have a lot of veterans who have been here before, so they know what that’s about and they can certainly share those experiences with the younger guys.”

If there’s one message Johnson will share with the Bears this week, it’s that details and fundamentals are important in the playoffs. Little mistakes could decide whether a team advances or goes home.

In the playoffs, it comes down to the basics.

“As simple as it is, it’s the blocking, it’s the tackling, it’s the proper catching of the football, ball security, taking the ball away,” Johnson said. “It’s all those little things that show up the most when the lights are the brightest.”