The most reassuring thing Bears coach Ben Johnson has said recently was simple and sensible: When his team opens the season Monday against the Vikings, he’s sticking to plays that worked in practice.
That’s a more blue-collar approach than many might have expected from someone who has been called an offensive wizard. He has thrown the whole playbook at quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense over the last several months, but now it’s merely about whatever it takes to get through one game.
In short, he’s not going to go full Ben Johnson in his debut. The goal isn’t to score 40, rather to score enough. It’s less about being viewed as a genius and more about being practical. Efficiency over elegance.
“I’m highly self-aware,” Johnson told the Sun-Times recently. “That’s one of my strengths.”
The hope with Johnson is that he won’t follow in the missteps of his predecessors. Matt Nagy was an overthinker. Matt Eberflus and his offensive coordinators often seemed unprepared. Both were stubborn.
It’s fine to be stubborn if you know everything, but even Johnson isn’t so confident to believe that about himself. When he did brag about himself, it was about the ability to react and adapt rather than to have all the answers in the first place.
“We like to say no one adjusts better than us,” Johnson said.
Saying it is easy. Proving it is harder.
Coaching Williams and the Bears will be a change for Johnson after three seasons of building the Lions into a juggernaut as offensive coordinator.
The most obvious difference comes with the title, and exponentially more issues arrive at Johnson’s desk as head coach.
He’s also working with a roster that’s still being shaped. The Lions led the NFL in scoring at 33.2 points per game last season, and it was no coincidence they had an elite offensive line. That makes every play call work better.
They pumped premium resources into their line, including three first-round picks, while the Bears went cheap and hoped for the best last season. And even after investing $145.5 million over the next three -seasons for three interior starters, they’re still -unsure at left tackle. Johnson picked veteran Braxton Jones as the starter after an uninspiring competition and made clear it’d be under constant evaluation, meaning all Jones won was a regular-season audition.
Then there’s Williams. Johnson said when he took the job he was a big part of what convinced him he could win with the Bears. It’s a lot different, though, than the situation he encountered in Detroit when he began working with Jared Goff.
Goff had been selected to two Pro Bowls, went to a Super Bowl and had played four seasons under renowned coach Sean McVay before he teamed up with Johnson. All Williams has on his record is an up-and-down rookie season under one of the Bears’ most disastrous coaching staffs in recent memory.
It’s far from the ideal scenario Johnson helped construct with the Lions, but there is enough talent and potential on the roster for him to help the Bears make a jump from 5-12 last season to around .500 this season — as long as he tailors his coaching to fit the players he has, rather than what he had with the Lions.
When the Bears have the ball
As much intrigue as there is about new coach Ben Johnson’s ability to elevate quarterback Caleb Williams, the running game is going to be crucial Monday and for the near future. The Bears were one of the worst rushing teams in the NFL last season, but with a rebuilt offensive line and a refocused D’Andre Swift, they should be better.
Swift’s winding road is fascinating. The Lions drafted him 35th overall in 2020, and Johnson was offensive coordinator when they offloaded him to the Eagles for a fourth-round pick. Then he inherited Swift — and little behind him — when he took the Bears job.
Swift has potential to be among the league’s best at his position but was too shifty last season and averaged a career-low 3.8 yards per carry. He says he hasn’t changed a thing, but Johnson sees much more of the north-south mentality that he has been pushing for from Swift.
“He’s hitting it hard,” Johnson said. “He’s decisive. I see him turn on the gas when he sees a little crease. He’s dynamic, and he is explosive.”
With little else certain at the position as Roschon Johnson comes off a season in which he was barely used and rookie Kyle Monangai finds his footing, it’s all riding on Swift. He had just three games of 80 or more yards rushing last season, and the Bears need him to average around 80.
The Vikings, by the way, were No. 2 against the run last season and have a stacked defensive line.
When the Vikings have the ball
The Bears were bad against the run last season and hope the additions of defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, along with improvement from tackle Gervon Dexter, will change that.
They’ll need it against Vikings veteran running back Aaron Jones, who rushed for a career-high 1,138 yards last season, including 192 and two touchdowns in two games against the Bears.
If the Bears limited Jones, it would put a ton of pressure on quarterback J.J. McCarthy in his NFL debut. There’s already a lot for McCarthy to think about as he goes on the road in prime time against a solid defense, so consistently forcing him into obvious passing situations would be highly advantageous for the Bears.
From there, the Bears must win their matchups. While McCarthy lacks experience, he’s rich in resources. The Vikings have the No. 7 offensive line in Pro Football Focus’ rankings and top-tier pass catchers in receiver Justin Jefferson and tight end T.J. Hockenson.
Bears defensive end Montez Sweat needs to get through that line and be a factor. Some combination of cornerbacks and linebackers must manage Jefferson and Hockenson reasonably well. If they are capable of all that, there’s nothing left for McCarthy to do but make mistakes.
The Bears gave up 60 points in two losses to the Vikings last season, giving up a ton of yardage on the ground. That’s where it starts.