Ben Johnson: We knew we couldn't let off the gas against Carolina

The Bears had their highest Week 1 scoring output in franchise history on Sunday with the club’s 59-37 victory over the Panthers.

While Chicago was up 45-31 with Kyle Monangai’s 61-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter, the team put up two more TDs in the fourth to keep the game out of reach.

Head coach Ben Johnson said in his Monday press conference that was by design, in part because of Carolina’s offensive effectiveness.

“I think we needed it,” Johnson said of the team’s final two touchdowns, via transcript from the team. “The game was still back and forth at that point. Anytime you’re still within a couple of scores there in the fourth quarter, the game is still on, and so we needed that. I forget what time it was that we took the field for that last drive, and it was, ‘Guys, we want to finish the game with the ball’, and then ended up getting one to pop through, and ‘Swifty’ [D’Andre Swift] ended up scoring there at the end.

“But I thought they did a really good job in the fourth quarter, pressing on the gas. And it’s a credit to Carolina more than anything. We went into the game with a lot of respect for how well they could play in the fourth quarter. They had a number of games a year ago where the quarterback and the offense found a way to come back and win from behind, that was just something that was on our mind going into the game. We knew we couldn’t let off the gas.”

After such an impressive performance in Week 1, we’ll see what the Bears can do as a follow up in the club’s home opener against the division-rival Vikings on Sunday.