Ben Johnson on What Went Wrong Before Go-Ahead FG vs. Patriots

The Chicago Bears had a chance to win on Thursday Night Football against the New England Patriots with a late field goal attempt. 

The defense got a stop with 6:22 left after a three-and-out by the Patriots' offense. The Bears held a narrow 27-21 lead and desperately needed points. 

Chicago did its best to run the clock down while trying to get into field goal range to ice the game. The Bears got down to the Patriots' 30-yard line, but then disaster struck. 

The Bears called a third-and-five passing play, and Caleb Williams took the snap and felt the pressure from the pass rush. Instead of throwing the ball away and preserving the great field position the Bears had, he tried to make a play with his legs and took a sack. 

Williams was sacked for 10 yards, making the field goal attempt by Cairo Santos go from 47 yards to 57 yards. 

It wasn't ideal, but thankfully Santos came in clutch. He drilled the 57-yarder, giving the Bears a 30-21 lead. The only hope for the Patriots was a miracle. 

New England hit a field goal to make it a six-point game, but couldn't recover the onside kick, and the Bears won 30-24. 

It's great that Santos was able to extend the Bears' lead, but it was still poor decision-making from Williams. 

At Friday's press conference, Ben Johnson explained why Williams held onto the ball too long when he could've just thrown it away. Johnson took the blame, stating that he could've explained the situation better to Williams. 

"Yeah, I didn't do a good enough job communicating to him in that situation," Johnson said. "I mean, I have to do a better job letting them know it's more important; the yards are more important for us in that spot than the clock running or burning timeouts on the opposition or anything of that nature. So, 100 percent on me." 

It's a good thing that Santos hit that field goal, or the Bears could've been in danger of the Patriots scoring a go-ahead and even game-winning touchdown. 

These are late-game decisions that could cost the Bears if not corrected eventually. 

At the end of the day, the Bears survived and are 5-2. 

Chicago is still awaiting the return of running back Kyle Monangai, who has been out since Week 4 with a thumb and toe injury. The good news is that Monangai may not have to wait long to return to the field. 

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport shared that Monangai is very close to a return. The initial belief was that the injury would take about 3-4 weeks to heal, and Monangai is approaching his fourth week since the injury, so a return could be likely soon. 

The Bears finally broke the 100-rushing-yard mark for the first time since Monangai's injury. It's still clear that he is a valuable part of the running game. 

We'll see if there are any positive updates on Monangai, who now has more time to recover with the Bears' next game not taking place until Nov. 2. 

Chicago can breathe easy knowing that it has a while until its next game.