Three different starting quarterbacks. Three wins.
A quarter of the way through the season, the Chicago Bears are 3-1 having started three different quarterbacks and are still surprisingly atop the NFL in terms of offensive production.
Ben Johnson has this Bears offense ranked No. 1 in the NFL in total offense, putting up 429.0 yards per game overall. Their rushing attack is also leading the league by going for darn-near 200 yards per game (196.3).
Yet, if you zoom in a little further, there are some glaring issues that need fixing. Start by looking at the Bears being just ninth in scoring while topping the league in yards per game. That should be your first clue.
But, it goes even deeper and the overall trend is easy to pinpoint.
The Bears' red zone offense is broken through 4 weeks
Like leading the league in yards per game, the Bears also lead the NFL in red zone scoring opportunities per game at 4.8. So, give or take about five red zone scoring chances per game for the Bears.
Remember, that doesn't count any of the big touchdown plays we've seen so far. This is strictly Chicago's offense moving the football past the opponent's 20-yard line and attempting to get into the end zone from there.
Those league-leading red zone opportunities have yielded a touchdown on only 42.11% of the time, which ranks 30th in the NFL.
So, you've got a team that's arguably the best at moving the football on a consistent basis. But once they enter that sacred ground inside the 20, they fall flat. Chicago's offense ranks in the bottom third
If you thought the red zone was a problem, it gets even more specific. The Bears' biggest problem isn't just in the red zone. It's their inability to score inside the five-yard line, which is shocking, considering this is the NFL's top rushing team through the first quarter of the season.
Bears' inability to run inside the five-yard line is a hyper-confusing oxymoron
This Bears team has more rushing yards through four games than the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers combined. They shouldn't have an issue scoring when they get close to pay dirt.
When Johnson and his offense get into goal-to-go situations, though, they crumble. The Bears' offense ranks well into the bottom third of the league in multiple categories inside the five, including yards per play and overall success rate, per Fantasy Points Data Suite 2.0.
Sunday's game against the Jets was another prime example. On the first drive of the game, Chicago drove it 93 yards all the way down to the one-yard line and came up short.
The Bears had a 1st-and-goal from the three-yard line and turned it over on downs. Twice, we saw D'Andre Swift get stuffed right before crossing the goal line. Twice, we saw incompletions thrown by Tyson Bagent.
If you ask me, part of this is a massive indictment on center Garrett Bradbury. Where do you run the ball once inside the five-yard line?
Up the middle.
Typically, you simply try to play smash mouth football and pound it up the middle for a score. But, Bradbury is by far the weakest link up front.
Now, we could talk about the Bears' quarterback situation and the offense missing Caleb Williams, but let's not forget the three points this team put up against the Minnesota Vikings while Williams was playing the majority of that game.
Johnson and the offense have had their chances, but they just cannot close the deal.
The flip side of all of this is fans having to be excited to not only see Johnson and the offense improve upon these woes, but do so with Caleb Williams once he's back and healthy.
it is a long season. These early pain points won't be pain points all season long. Johnson isn't the type of coach to put up with it. He isn't going to allow the same mistakes to be made for 17 games and beyond.
The Bears will get this correct. I believe that to be a fact.
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But, for now, it's certainly raising eyebrows and worth sounding an alarm.
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