Ben Johnson sure isn't resting on his laurels. Despite leading the Chicago Bears to the NFC's No. 1 seed through Week 13 in his maiden season at the helm, Johnson is a realist when it comes to diagnosing his team's flaws.
Although the Bears boast the No. 2 rushing offense in the NFL, their passing attack is definitely not a finished product. Caleb Williams is the trigger man and most obvious culprit for that reality.
The second-year No. 1 overall pick has disappointed thus far. No sugarcoating it. Johnson may have let loose when he went shirtless in the locker room after Black Friday's win over the Eagles, but he isn't about to let his young QB off the hook.
Ben Johnson implies the Bears are winning despite Caleb Williams' lackluster play
A little reading between the lines is required here. Ben Johnson didn't say Caleb Williams is the reason the Bars can't throw the ball better. But umm, Williams is, you know, the man who actually throws the ball every Sunday.
Dan Wiederer of The Athletic documented what Johnson had to say about the Williams-led pass game.
"Everybody has a role to play to get this pass game cleaned up. It's not where it needs to be. We're winning in spite of our passing game, not because of it. And none of us are pleased with that."
It's an indictment of Williams and the Chicago wide receivers in particular that they can't be more productive, given how well-oiled the ground game is. There should be plenty of opportunities for play-action shots and explosive chunk plays through the air. Williams has capitalized on some of those, yet he's missed more than his fair share of chances.
You don't need to be an all-22 film guru to recognize that DJ Moore's lack of effort and attention to detail continues to be a problem. Not exactly the ideal mentor for the two youngsters in the receiver room, in Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III.
Johnson's general characterization is that there are myriad issues. Williams' lack of accuracy on certain throws doesn't help his pass-catchers. It just feels like the top three receivers all have their problems. We've already hit on Moore's main drawbacks.
Burden's head is evidently swimming as he digests Johnson's complex playbook. Otherwise, anyone with functioning eyes knows he's the most talented wideout on this team. Odunze has hauled in less than 50% of his targets (44 out of 90), and he's not blameless for that lack of connection with Williams.
According to PFF, the Bears have dropped 7.6% of Williams' passes this season. He's still completed just 58.1% of his throws. That's with a league-low 10.5% aggressive throw rate, per Next Gen Stats.
Read more: Dan Orlovsky spoke poetic truth about Bears' dominant performance vs. Eagles
Maybe Johnson should stick to the run, spam the tight ends Colston, Loveland, and Cole Kmet, and hope Williams' accuracy improves. Plays like the epic one below, against Philadelphia, are what the ceiling could look like. Williams must be more consistent on the more mundane plays, though — and as Johnson asserts, his wideouts need to do their part.