Ben Johnson Didn't Just Fix Caleb Williams—He Built a Haymaker Machine

Heading into last offseason, the NFL world decided the Ben Johnson–Caleb Williams pairing was a simple fix-it project. Johnson saved Jared Goff. Now he had to save the No. 1 pick. But after watching Chicago's 2025 season unfold, you have to ask: Were we all looking at this wrong?

The truth is, Johnson didn't just coach up a quarterback. He rebuilt the entire offense from the studs up—and he started on the ground, not in the sky.

The Running Game Is the Real Star

The Bears stumbled out of the gate in 2025. They were 2-2 by their Week 5 bye, sitting 31st in EPA per rush. The run game was broken, and Johnson knew that without it, nothing else would click.

So the head coach did something rare: he personally installed the running game every single week. Not just for the linemen—everyone in the room. Receivers, tight ends, backs, the quarterback. All hands on deck.

But this wasn't a simple installation. Johnson dropped the full Detroit playbook on Chicago's doorstep, expecting everyone to absorb years of accumulated innovation in a few weeks. Communication suffered. There were 11 pre-snap penalties in four weeks. The offensive line—five guys who had basically never played together—was lost in translation.

Yet Johnson and his staff adapted. They created one-word playcalls to simplify communication. They leaned on the players for mnemonic ideas. They pushed the tempo. And after the bye, the dam broke.

From Week 5 on, the Bears were second only to the Rams in rushing success rate and EPA per rush. They fed the right side behind Darnell Wright like he was a star wideout. They brought receivers into the blocking game. They stopped running to be safe—they ran to attack. Explosive runs became the weapon. The jab was actually the haymaker.

Play-Action, Laser Beams, and YAC

All of that ground work set up the real prize: play-action deep shots. Johnson's offense has always been about explosives, and Williams has the arm to cash checks that Goff never could.

Williams averaged 10.2 air yards per attempt on play-action passes—Goff was at 7.0 over three seasons in Detroit. Williams completed 12 in-breaking routes 20-plus yards downfield last season; Goff had 17 in three combined years. The kid is literally expanding the offense's scope.

Yes, his 58.1% completion percentage is ugly. But that's not the point. The point is creating big plays while avoiding disasters. Williams ranked 14th in EPA per dropback. He was 23rd in dropback success rate. He's not Goff—he's a bigger, faster, more volatile version of the same idea.

And Johnson isn't trying to tame that. He's unleashing it. The checkdowns are coming, but they're setting up the next explosive shot. The Bears are going to keep swinging for the fences. That's not a bug. It's the entire design.

2026: Trust Becomes Belief

The biggest change entering Year 2? Everyone finally gets it. Last year, guys trusted the process. Now, they love it.

The Bears went 11-6 with an offense that was still learning a brutal, complex system. The line is still shaky at left tackle. Drew Dalman retired at 27. There are injuries to key pieces. Bet against them if you want—Johnson himself embraced the “No. 1 regression candidate” label this summer.

But all that accumulated experience means the operation should speed up. The calls will be cleaner. The splits will be sharper. And the beauty of the blitz? It finally looks like a masterpiece.

Ben Johnson built a haymaker machine in Chicago. Now he's got the quarterback, the backs, the blockers, and the believers to run it at full throttle. 2026 might be the season the Bears stop being a fun story and start being a genuine problem.