Bear Digest

Ben Johnson's elite play calling verified and here's how good it is

Ben Johnson's play calling has been praised by one NFL analyst and he rates among the top 10 NFL play callers.
Gene Chamberlain|
Ben Johnson calls the play against Pittsburgh last season. Johnson now ranks among the best NFL play callers says a website.
Ben Johnson calls the play against Pittsburgh last season. Johnson now ranks among the best NFL play callers says a website. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Chicago Bears

About the only things the Bears offense ranked high at last year were presnap penalties and unused timeouts.

The amount of deep thinking going on behind play calls seemed miniscule, particularly at the goal line against Washington and Indianapolis.

When the Bears hired Ben Johnson, they couldn't be sure he could make a transition to head coach from coordinator but they did know one other thing with great certainty.

The man knew how to design an offense and call the plays. Three straight years in the top five on offense said as much.

It's been a while since it could be said the Bears offense was on the cutting edge. They've been hailed at times for their defensive coordinators, such as Vic Fangio. But the Bears and creative offensive play calling usually haven't gone hand in hand since Marc Trestman had them eighth in the league on offense. And then you had to get over the nerdiness.

Johnson's bold play calls and reputation for knowing how to set up a defense have earned him a high rank among play callers. He's no Sean McVay, but he's definitely in the picture.

The 33rd Team analyst Dan Pizzuta rates the league's play callers in an article for that website and has Johnson ranked No. 6 among NFL play callers.

"All the trick plays are memorable, but it’s not just the singular plays," Pizzuta wrote. "Johnson has an exceptional down-to-down plan with great sequencing that has allowed some of those bigger plays to work, and the former is what is going to be his differentiator in Chicago."

The "Stumble Bum" play the Lions used against the Bears was the tip of the play-calling ice berg as Johnson had every form of chicanery going on, like a pass play with tackle Penei Sewell designed to throw it and a throw-back to relatively immobile QB Jared Goff.

Then again, sometimes he got out in front of the skis with calls, like Jameson Williams trying to throw off an end-around, resulting in what was basically the nail in the coffin with an interception in the NFC divisional playoffs against Washington.

Apparently he made strides over the past year because the same website had him ranked 10th following the 2023 season.

Curiously, Kyle Shanahan remained No. 1 for 2025 after he was No. 1 for 2024, despite the 49ers finishing with a 6-11 record and in last place last season. Sean McVay was No. 2.

Johnson is one spot behind Andy Reid. The Bears coach needs to be No. 6 because he's in a division where the No. 3 coach for calling plays in the NFL is Matt LaFleur of Green Bay, and the No. 4 play caller is Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell.

So it can definitely be said the Bears are a bit better now in terms of play callers than last year.

Shane Waldron was ranked 20th in this same rating going into 2024, and there are not many Bears fans who would disagree with the thought now that he was overrated.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

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.