When the Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson early this past offseason, one of the common, immediate reactions centered on the creativity of his offense. Johnson was well-known for his trick plays and offensive ingenuity. Still, many fans got it all wrong right from the jump.
As this first season wears on under Johnson, the Bears' offense continues to improve. But, the team's most recent win over the Philadelphia Eagles proved a common misconception wrong, and NFL analyst Kyle Brandt took notice.
On the latest episode of Good Morning Football, Brandt had this to say about Johnson's offense:
"I'm talking about the running. The misconception about the Ben Johnson Bears and who or what they wanted them to be this year was, 'Oh, he does the trick plays with the Lions, and he throws it up and down the field.' No, no, no, Ben Johnson's bread and butter with the Lions was Montgomery and Gibbs."
The Bears are doing exactly what Ben Johnson intended to do from Day 1
Everyone wanted to talk about the big, explosive plays after Johnson was hired. All of the talk was about Caleb Williams and the weapons at his disposal -- and justifiably so. DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland make up one heck of an arsenal.
But, Brandt's words are right on. The only reason Detroit was able to unleash all of those trick plays and creativity under Johnson was because of the Lions' commitment to the run game.
Now, the Bears don't have a Jahmyr Gibbs or David Montgomery (anymore), but what D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai are doing cannot be overstated. They've been downright phenomenal, especially in recent weeks.
"This is what he wanted... they ran for damn-near 300 yards against the Super Bowl champs," Brandt noted.
Fans thought about the Bears having a one-two punch for quite a while this past offseason and weren't quite certain this team could do it with Swift and Monangai, but here we are. Over the last seven games, Monangai has gotten to double-digit touches on five occasions.
In three of those games, Monangai has gone for at least 80 rushing yards. He's scored a touchdown in four-straight contests and has five in his last seven.
Meanwhile, Swift has gone for over 80 yards rushing in five of the last seven games, since we've noticed a huge shift in the run game from Johnson. Between him (six) and Monangai (five), the two of them have 11 scores in the year.
We are seeing exactly what fans had hoped for. It is panning out right before our eyes.
Johnson's offense has had some creative spins, so far this year, but his commitment and execution in the run game have been lights-out. Chicago ranks second in the league in rushing and sixth overall.
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Soak it in, Bears fans.