How Ben Johnson Makes Up for Caleb Williams' Low Completion Rate

Even in the face of Caleb Williams' breakout season in 2025, many detractors remain and they all wield the same cudgel: the number 58.1. That was Caleb Willams' completion percentage in 2025, an unacceptably low number. And while that may (and almost certainly will) improve going forward, for now it remains the stat of choice for those who still don't believe that the Chicago Bears have their franchise quarterback.

With so few passes being completed, how could the Bears possibly have featured one of the NFL's top offenses last year? They finished 2025 as the No. 9 scoring offense and put up the sixth-most yards per game, after all. The answer lies in one word, and it's this word that stands at the foundation of head coach Ben Johnson's offense: explosives.

Ben Johnson's offense is a series of haymakers to knock out the defense

Offensive coordinator Press Taylor cleared up a common misconception about Ben Johnson's offense last week when talking to Bears media. "I don't think Ben has ever mentioned the word efficiency," Taylor said. "We talk about explosive. We are trying to attack a defense."

Taylor went on to say, "I think there's a perception of a lot of people, we're gonna run the ball, we're gonna stay efficient and control the clock... We don't look at the run game as a way to stay on track. We look at the run game as a way to attack defenses and really be explosive and continue to just put our foot on the gas the entire game."

This laser-like focus on explosive plays, both in the run game and in the passing game, are how the Bears were able to field a potent offense despite Williams completing only half his passes. And I don't say this to deride Williams; it wasn't all his fault, as Bears receivers had the third-most drops in the NFL last year, according to Pro Football Reference.

ESPN analyst Ben Solak concurs based on his study of how Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams make the Bears' offense work. After noting how central to the offense the running game is, Solak writes, "So the run sets up the pass. But that construction can trick us into thinking of the run as a jab, lulling the opponent into a predictable tempo and setting the reach for an inbound combination... The eventual incoming haymaker here is the play-action pass."

That's how it goes with many coaches, but not Ben Johnson. "He is here to hit explosives, and that is exactly what his running game is designed to do," Solak concludes. "The running game is not the jab. It's the haymaker. But the play-action pass is also the haymaker. The haymaker sets up the haymaker."

Many explosive plays can make up for missed routine plays

As aforementioned, Williams' completion percentage has to get better. That's on him, but it's also on the receivers, too. That's why Ben Johnson had the entire offense doing their part to improve Williams' accuracy in OTAs this spring. Remember, Johnson challenged Williams last year to complete 70% of his passes, and I imagine that goal still stands today.

However, as Williams and the entire offense inches towards that goal, it's comforting to know that they have the knockout power to overcome this deficiency in the short-term. Not many teams can do what the Bears do on offense, for many reasons. Not every coach is as obsessively focused on the run game as Ben Johnson is. Not every offensive line is as powerful as the Bears' line is. Perhaps most importantly, no quarterback not named Patrick Mahomes can complete the wild throws that Caleb Williams completes.

As we look ahead to the 2026 NFL season, we'll expect to see a much-improved version of Caleb Williams. He may never hit Johnson's goal of completing 70% of his passes, but 65% should be more than doable in his second year with this offense. If Williams can get to that mark while he and the rest of the offense continue to deliver explosive plays, Ben Johnson's goal of breaking the 2013 Broncos' NFL scoring record may in fact come within striking distance.

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