Bear Digest

How long Chicago Bears can expect the Ben Johnson turnaround to take

The new Bears coach arrived saying he expected to compete and win immediately and the team was well stocked but is something like this even possible?

Gene Chamberlain

Ben Johnson has the fate of the Bears in his hands now and how fast he turned around Detroit's offense could show how rapid a Chicago transformation can occur.
Ben Johnson has the fate of the Bears in his hands now and how fast he turned around Detroit's offense could show how rapid a Chicago transformation can occur. / David Banks-Imagn Images
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Time presents the real challenge for Ben Johnson as Bears coach.

It takes time on task to turn around an NFL team, particularly offenses. They are well-oiled, perfectly coordinated machines, bringing together players with particular skill sets to work in unison.

It should take preseason, training camp, OTAs, minicamps and into the NFL season to make everything work. Sometimes it takes more than a year.

For Johnson, time is of the essence because: No. 1, his general manager has fouled up royally for three years and badly needs a quick turnaround and, No. 2, we're all sick and tired of waiting for something positive. Seven last-place finishes in 11 years and four straight starts to wear on everyone.

Johnson realizes this and addressed it when he came to Chicago.

"Our mission, our mission, starting this spring, is to win and to win now," Johnson said.

Ben Johnson works fast

Fortunately, there is history of Johnson's quick success. It's not irrelevant to mix and match the Detroit Lions of 2022, when Johnson took over as play caller, with the Bears as constituted and to see what's possible.

Before Johnson took over as Lions coordinator is when it began for Detroit. Dan Campbell took play-calling responsibility away from Anthony Lynn in 2021 after the Lions lost their first eight games of that coaching regime. They tied the game with Pittsburgh when Campbell started calling plays, and they gradually began involving Johnson more in other aspects of offensive preparation and oversight. They won three of their last eight games in a 3-13-1 first year for Campbell.

Johnson took play calling after Detroit ranked 22nd in yardage and 25th in scoring, 18th in passing and 19th in rushing.

The effect was immediate as they went to fifth in scoring in 2022 and 2023, then led the league in 2024. They finished fourth in yardage in 2022, then third in 2023 and second last season.

They did all of this with the same quarterback who staked them to a 3-13-1 season, Jared Goff. It's possible they might have had more rapid success if, in 2021, their offensive line had been healthy. Haven't we heard this enough in Chicago already?

Left tackle Taylor Decker went on injured reserve early with a finger injury and then perennial Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow missed most of the year following toe surgery.

They had to use rookie Penei Sewell at left tackle. When Johnson returned, they had the two tackle spots and center solidified. They swapped out guards over the next two seasons until they got the right combination. The two tackles and center were keys.

They also made the switch at running back and this could directly reflect where the Bears go in this draft or free agency. D'Andre Swift went from splitting carries almost evenly with Jamaal Williams in 2021 to only 99 carries in 2022. Williams' load moved up to 262 carries then. Swift became the backup.

Whether this is what they do with Swift in Chicago this season remains to be seen, but if they did then they would need to acquire their main running threat in a year when the draft and free agency can provide options.

By the time Johnson left, of course, they had Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, with Gibbs getting more carries this year due to Montgomery's knee. But they went deeper into the playoffs in 2023 with Montgomery as the lead back.

Sudden and head-turning change

If Johnson gets the key offensive line changes and a running back, the whole thing could work this way in Chicago as well.

The question is how long the wait would be. In Detroit, it was almost instantaneous once the changes were made.

In Johnson's first four games, the Lions scored 140 points. They had 35 against the Eagles, 36 against the Commanders, 24 against the Vikings and 45 against Seattle.

Then the offense went into hiding for a period of four weeks and it all turned in the win column when they beat Green Bay 15-9 on Nov. 6. They won eight of their last 10 because the defense also turned a corner behind coordinator Aaron Glenn.

The offense averaged 29.4 points the final nine games with a low of 20. They beat the Packers twice, beat the Bears twice by scoring 72 total points, and they outscored the Vikings with 34 for a win.

Bears' potential duplication

The Bears are not void of talent.

"It is stocked. It’s loaded," was how Johnson put it.

They do need changes, obviously. Considering the resources available improve the offensive line and backfield, to even add a different slot receiver and tight end, and to find another pass rusher for the defense, it would be easy to see the Bears making the instantaneous type of jump the Lions' offense made in 2022 with Johnson.

There's one sticking point, of course, and that's the quarterback.

Goff was a proven commodity. Caleb Williams shows he has the talent but it needs to be harnessed. Johnson has never had to do this.

"Whether he knows it or not, I don't know, he's going to find out when he comes in for the sprint—there are gonna be elements for the game we're gonna focus on him getting better at," Johnson said.

It all comes down to how fast Johnson gets Williams to convert from occasional highlight passer to consistent producer if they have those offensive pieces all in place.

If Johnson pulls all of this together, Bears fans shouldn't have to wait long into 2025 before seeing the effects.

Otherwise, it can become a long, drawn-out process for fans who've endured enough losing.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.