Not every victory needs to be a masterpiece.
The Bears have crumbled under far less adversity than coach Ben Johnson is managing at the moment, and they’ve long needed someone like him who can simply keep things steady through tough circumstances.
There was nothing particularly memorable about their 23-12 win over the Jets at Soldier Field on Sunday, but there didn’t have to be. There were plenty of games before Johnson arrived when the Bears couldn’t consistently count on beating even the bad teams, so getting by with a backup quarterback to reach 3-1 was yet another indicator of Johnson’s dependability.
Less than two years ago, about a month before his hiring, the Bears lost 6-3 to the Seahawks at home against the same quarterback, Geno Smith, and a long line of similarly deflating defeats preceded that.
This was progress. Who cares if it was nondescript?
It doesn’t always have to be a 59-point outburst, a cinematic story like third-stringer Case Keenum taking down the Eagles or a jaw-dropping late escape. It’s sufficient to stack up some businesslike wins and keep the season on track.
Johnson’s ability to adapt has revolutionized the Bears, and two of the biggest concerns about them going into the season have faded thanks to him: their shaky defense has improved and they can survive without starting quarterback Caleb Williams.
Williams went down with a Grade 2 hamstring strain two weeks ago, and Johnson proceeded to beat the Eagles with Keenum and the Jets with Tyson Bagent.
For all the excitement about Bagent, he played a relatively unremarkable game and completed 25 of 34 passes for 268 yards with an interception for an 83.9 passer rating in his first start since 2023. And that was serviceable against a team like the Jets.
As much as Johnson thinks Bagent is a starting-caliber quarterback, he adapted well when he saw Sunday might not be the grand unveiling of that belief. The Bears stuck to the basics by leaning on the running game and controlling the clock. They also benefitted from a defense that seems to be finding its footing.
The Bears averaged 5.5 yards per carry even with star running back D’Andre Swift missing some time with an injury. Johnson had an answer for that problem, too, and Kyle Monangai led the team with 146 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries.
On a fourth-and-two at the Jets’ 12-yard line in the second quarter, usually an automatic green light for Johnson, he played it safe and took the points with Cairo Santos’ 30-yard field goal for a 10-3 lead. It was the shortest fourth down this season in which Johnson opted to kick or punt, but the Bears had walked away from a first-and-goal with no points in the first quarter, and this wasn’t the day to keeping taking those risks.
The defense’s trajectory is very promising as the Bears get ready to face the Packers for the first time this season when they visit Lambeau Field on Sunday, and Johnson gets credit for that, too.
He gives defensive coordinator Dennis Allen autonomy, but maintains an integral role on that side of the ball. Johnson is an offensive-minded head coach, but everything falls under his umbrella.
Matt Nagy and Matt Eberflus before him could never reach beyond their own expertise — they both had plenty of problems on their own side of the ball, for that matter — and it took them down.
Nagy never seemed to have much of a grasp of what was happening defensively and near the end, he crossed the line by ripping the defense even after it had propped him up most of his tenure. Eberflus was just as lost when it came to the offense.
Yet every time Johnson has been asked about the Bears’ defensive issues the last two seasons, he has deferred to Allen but also answered insightfully and purposefully.
The last two head coaches rarely showed the ability to pivot when the plan fell apart and struggled to pull the team out of the various nosedives into which they led them. It’s also hard to imagine Johnson allowing the Bears to freefall through a month-long losing streak, which became an annual tradition under Nagy and Eberflus.
Everything Johnson is doing right now sets him apart from them.
He spent his first year and a half on the job tailoring his offense to Williams’ potential, then abruptly had to shift to two backups who are more conventional pocket passers.
The biggest move the Bears made defensively in the offseason was over before it began as safety Coby Bryant suffered a major knee injury in training camp.
The offensive line needed an unexpected overhaul in the offseason, then took additional hits when center Garrett Bradbury struggled and left tackle Braxton Jones got hurt.
Nothing has gone quite according to plan, yet Johnson and the Bears are just fine.