After the Chicago Bears' claiming of the NFC's no. 1 seed this past week, people finally started to take notice. All of the talk about Chicago being phony seemingly went out the window with a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
National media and broadcasters are starting to get on board, too. JJ Watt recently shed light on what NFC North foes are scared to admit about Ben Johnson and the Bears, but he didn't stop there.
Watt is still paying close attention, and after Johnson called out his quarterback Caleb Williams, early this week, the Hall of Fame defensive end praised Chicago's first-year head coach.
"Blunt, direct and honest from a first year head coach who currently has his team in 1st place in the NFC with a 9-3 record.
Very refreshing."
JJ Watt loved Ben Johnson's call-out of Caleb Williams
For those who are just catching up, Johnson spoke with Chicago media on Monday and got brutally honest about Williams' inconsistencies this season. The head coach said that his Bears are winning "in spite" of the passing game.
Watt was simply responding to Johnson's honesty, and he couldn't be more right.
Bears fans have noticed a very refreshing spirit about Johnson. There are so many aspects of what makes him just that, but his willingness to be honest and call something out is certainly up at the top.
Johnson came in saying he was going to coach his players hard, and that included Williams. Everybody who knew anything about Johnson, as a coach, knew that this was going to be the hardest Williams had ever been coached.
And, to this point, Williams has been fine. He's had plenty of off-target throws, but he's also led five game-winning drives this season alone. There's both good and bad, but Johnson's offense has looked solid.
Williams has plenty to clean up in terms of ball placement and accuracy. But that will continue to come as he keeps learning more and more while gaining comfort within this scheme. In just the first year, this offense is a top-10 unit under Johnson.
That almost seems made-up.
But, it's not. Chicago boasts the league's no. 2 overall rushing attack while maintaining top-10 in both toal yards and points per game. Williams is coming along. He'll get there.
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He'll get there because Johnson won't allow him not to get there. That's what Watt is saying, here. Watt pointed out that Johnson's honesty and boldness are unlike anything we've seen in Chicago in quite a while, and thanks to that, the Bears are sitting pretty at the moment.