I don't think many Chicago Bears fans truly knew what they were watching, last year, at times. It felt good to just watch a winning football team, again.
It felt good to see a competent head coach who was confident in his process, play calling and ability to take his team where he wanted to go. It felt good to have a quarterback that could turn any game on its head.
One of the things that made this offense so special behind Johnson is an area that not many people might have noticed. Ryan Paganetti, an NFL analyst formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders, does deep dives into stats and trends and recently shared his findings in one specific area for the Bears:
"No NFL play caller this century has treated 2nd & short like a free shot more aggressively than Ben Johnson.
Among 68 play callers with 70+ games since 1999, Johnson ranks:
1st in 2nd & 1 pass rate: 48.2%
1st in 2nd & 1-2 pass rate: 47.7%
1st in 2nd & 1-3 pass rate: 47.5%
No current projected 2026 play caller is even within 17 percentage points of him on 2nd & 1."
It seems like common sense. On 2nd-and-1, many play callers will just attempt to get the first down by running the ball. And, to be honest, that's not a bad call. If you convert on 2nd-and-1 or 2nd-and-2 by running it, no one complains. You move the chains.
However, what Johnson is doing is going completely against the grain. Sure, it isn't that strange to take a shot on 2nd-and-short. NFL play callers know that it can essentially be a free down to take a chance.
But, Johnson is doing it way more often than fellow play callers, and that's part of what's taken the Bears offense to another level. Chicago finished 9th in the NFL in yards per play last season at 5.7. The Bears were easily a top-10 offense in several categories, as we know, but this stat is intriguing.
Caleb Williams' completion percentage is the key to this Bears offense taking the league by storm
The Bears gained yards in chunks, many times, last year. But, what would happen to that yards per play if, say, Caleb Williams' completion percentage increased to where fans would like to see it?
We know, by now, that his biggest knock is that completion percentage, which finished came in at 58.1 last year. We've heard it all. It's atrocious. It's abysmal. It's a joke.
Sure, that can be true depending upon how you want to spin it.
But, now that we've heard Johnson talk about the completion percentage and how it's a focus going into the 2026 season ... oh boy. Buckle up.
If we saw Williams, Johnson and the offense do what they did in Year 1 together, how much better are they going to be in Year 2? I don't know about you, but I trust Johnson to accomplish a goal that he's set out for his quarterback.
Last year was full of some "what if" moments that ended with incompletions.
Bears fans remember countless would-be big plays where receivers dropped the ball or Williams missed his target. The name Olamide Zaccheaus might still cause a little anxiety.
Let's say Williams increases his completion percentage to 63 percent. That's average. That's not even in the upper echelon of the league.
Based on the Bears running 1,103 plays for 6,282 yards last year (568 passing attempts by Williams with 58.1 percent of them completed and an average of 11.9 yards per completion), that would have put the Bears at 5.89 yards per play.
That would have been good for 3rd in the NFL behind the Rams and Patriots.
Can we just marinate on that for a minute?
If Williams is average when it comes to his completion percentage, this Bears offense is elite. It's already one of the best units in football; a top-10 unit, top-5, etc. You can put whatever label on it that you'd like, right now.
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But, if Williams takes a leap in just that one key area, this offense absolutely explodes.
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