How Ben Johnson's Bears Are Approaching an Early Deficit in the NFC North

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson finds himself in a familiar position. 

Johnson's team has lost their first two divisional games of the 2026 season against the Minnesota Vikings (Week 2) and Green Bay Packers (Week 5). The Bears did exactly the same a year ago, losing to the Vikings and Detroit Lions in back-to-back weeks to start the season. 

The Bears still clinched the NFC North with an 11-6 record, but these early deficits only make every game on the schedule more important than the last. After the Bears' 31-7 loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field, Johnson shared a status update on the team during his Monday virtual media availability. 

"Any time you lose a game, it's disappointing," Johnson said. "Our guys are professionals, though. They understand where we're at. We're a three-and-two football team. The part that stinks is that we're zero-and-two in the division right now, so we've dug ourselves in a hole in that regard. And yet we've got a great opponent and great opportunity coming up here this week going on the road to Atlanta with a big game.”

Up to this point, Johnson is 2-6 against the NFC North in the regular season. That record surprised veteran right guard Jonah Jackson. 

"In our two years we’re 2-6 in the division?" Jackson said. "I mean, it’s the NFL, you know. Anything can happen on any given Sunday. Sadly we haven’t gotten as many wins as we’d probably like in the division, but it is what it is. I guess we didn’t have a winning record in our division last year and we still won it and we came out on top. We have a good NFC opponent this week, and we’ll capitalize."

Here's a look at the final scores from the Bears' matchups against the NFC North since Johnson became head coach in 2025. 

2026 Season

In nine games against NFC North opponents (including the playoffs), the Bears have been outscored 226 to 164. Johnson is still looking to get that first win against the Lions, his former team. The Bears' next divisional matchup will be against the Lions in Detroit on Thanksgiving. 

The Bears have four games against NFC opponents, starting with the Falcons this Sunday in Atlanta. Bears defensive end Austin Booker was asked about repeating as NFC North champions despite being 0-2 in the division. 

"Yeah, no, I mean it's just win the next game," Booker said. "So I mean whether the next game's a division opponent or not, we just have to go out and give it our best. So that's what it is."