Ben Johnson made many promises when the Bears hired him as coach in January — don’t they all? — about what this team would look like under him. He laid out an ambitious blueprint that sounded like the specifications of a championship contender, and while he’s a long way from checking all those boxes, he’s off to a strong start.
It’s clear after just nine games the Bears got the offensive play-calling wizard they’d been missing and then some. And the most valuable thing Johnson has brought to the organization is absolute objectivity.
The Bears are 6-3 and have a shot at the playoffs. That’s good.
They’re also playing below standards in several areas. That’s bad, but worse is to ignore it.
Johnson praised his team’s determination Monday after a 24-20 comeback win over the Giants and pointed to obvious buy-in from players — “It’s a group that believes in what we’re doing” — but continued to push for “cleaner football” all around.
“I’m happy that we’re finding ways to win,” Johnson said. “Yet, we have so far that we can still go and accomplish.”
Consider the growth in that statement coming from a Bears coach. Only two years ago, Matt Eberflus offered, “We’re 2-2 in our last four,” as proof they were on the rise.
Johnson’s Bears are a work in progress, and it’s vital that they’re aware of it. He objected recently to calling this a “transition season” for the Bears, but it is.
In his comments at various points, he has acknowledged this team isn’t ready to operate the way the Lions did last season in their third year in his offense.
Nonetheless, despite sloppiness, quarterback Caleb Williams’ nonlinear development, a roster still needing tweaks and Johnson’s own acclimation to being a head coach, the offense looks better than it has in years.
There’s a coherent identity that the Bears couldn’t establish under ever-adrift play-callers Shane Waldron, Luke Getsy, Matt Nagy and others. Johnson’s mission to “make the same things look different and different things look the same” is evident weekly as opposing defenses get caught off guard.
The Bears know what they want to do and generally do it well. Compare that to the end of the 2023 season, when wide receiver DJ Moore took aim at Getsy by saying, “Are we going to be an explosive team, or are we going to be a run team that’s going to just play off the clock?”
There’s no ambiguity anymore. There’s clarity and cohesion.
That goes for Williams, too, and Johnson has delivered where the previous staff failed in giving him necessary constructive criticism. He has artfully balanced encouragement and accountability.
The surest sign he’s shooting straight with Williams is that he’s doing it about his own job. Johnson volunteered Monday that there were holes in his game plan and play-calling and has said that after other games.
“It’s the first thing you look at when things aren’t clicking and you don’t feel like you’re in a rhythm,” Johnson said. “I always look in the mirror. When it doesn’t click the way we want, then I just question whether I should have done something else.
“I want those guys to understand that I take a lot of ownership in what we put on tape. It’s really important they all understand we’re all in the same boat.”
At 6-3, that boat is in playoff waters regardless of how rickety it has been at times or how choppy the waves have been. The Bears hold the seventh seed going into their game Sunday at the Vikings, and Johnson said, “We understand the urgency that’s at hand; We know where we are in the NFC right now.”
It’ll be impossible to keep climbing unless the Bears fix their deficiencies, but at least they know that. From Johnson down to the players, there’s a clear grasp of reality, and that’s a key step toward improvement.
