The beginning of the Ben Johnson era in Chicago is almost here. Chicago opens the regular season against Minnesota on Monday Night Football. The Bears may finally be ready to unleash their new-look offense against the Vikings in front of a national audience.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler hinted at what the team's offense could look like in Week 1 in a recent article.
Fowler suggested that Johnson may finally unleash some unique plays designed for Williams.
“Now that we're past the preseason, watch for the Bears to flash some creativity to maximize quarterback Caleb Williams,” Fowler wrote on Thursday. “My sense from people in Chicago is that while head coach Ben Johnson would coach Williams relentlessly on the basics throughout camp, they would eventually play to Williams' strengths, utilizing his mobility and off-platform throwing as an off-script playmaker. Bears fans could see more of that in the regular season.”
Chicago deployed a pretty vanilla playbook during the preseason, just like all NFL teams do.
But during the regular season, every game counts. And NFL coaching staffs pour countless hours into game planning against their opponents.
Johnson has had the entire offseason to orchestrate his first career game as head coach.
Bears fans should expect plenty of fireworks.
Bears facing massive playoff expectations ahead of 2025 NFL season
The hype is already growing around the Bears before Week 1 of the 2025 season.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell predicted that Chicago will make the playoffs after making huge improvements this offseason.
“What I think the Bears did do, though, is make a major coaching upgrade by going from Matt Eberflus and Thomas Brown to Ben Johnson,” Barnwell said. “If that turns out to be the case and Johnson unlocks the best from Caleb Williams in the process, the Bears might have significantly improved performance from the two most important positions in football.”
Barnwell has the Bears making the playoffs as a wild card team. He even credited the Micah Parsons trade as weakening the Cowboys, which could pave a path for the Bears to slide into the postseason.
The NFC North is one of the most competitive division in all of football. That will make divisional games, like Chicago's Week 1 matchup against Minnesota, even more important.
Hopefully Johnson and the Bears can start the regular season off with an emphatic win.
