Chicago watched hopelessly as their three division rivals the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers put several games of distance between the two sides, culminating in a last place finish for the 5-12 Bears.
The Bears' rough season included a midseason firing of former coach Matt Eberflus, who many analysts accused of poor time management down the stretch of a Thanksgiving loss to the Lions in Detroit.
On Saturday, the Bears made an announcement regarding the potential hiring of one of the most sought-after coaches in the National Football League as their coaching search began to officially heat up.
"We have completed an interview with head coach candidate Ben Johnson," the Bears' official X account wrote on Saturday during a two-game slate of NFL Playoffs action.
Johnson led the Lions to the second most yards per game average of any team in the NFL as Detroit's offensive coordinator this season with 409.5 yards per game, second only to offensive coordinator Todd Monken's Baltimore Ravens.
The Bears' interview with Johnson was conducted virtually in accordance with NFL rules for the first week of the postseason.
The interview was conducted by a committee including director of football administration Matt Feinstein, senior director of player personnel Jeff King, executive vice president of people and culture & chief human resources officer Liz Geist, chairman George McCaskey, general manager Ryan Poles and president and CEO Kevin Warren.
The Bears also announced that they had completed an interview with Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn for the same position.
