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Ben Johnson's Fourth-Down Problem Could Cost Bears Again in 2026

Ben Johnson says he must improve on fourth down, and the Bears may need that growth badly after too many costly misses in key spots last season.
Gene Chamberlain|
A combination as lethal as Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson last season should be better than 21st at converting fourth down.
A combination as lethal as Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson last season should be better than 21st at converting fourth down. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Considering what Ben Johnson did in Chicago during the 2025 season of "good, better, best," it almost seemed sacrilegious for the media to ask about play-calling improvement.

No one is beyond reproach, though. Johnson was in the mood for such introspection and provided it during minicamp.

"I would say fairly significantly," Johnson said. "I'd like to think I'm better in situations than I've been in the past. You continue to grow, and you learn from your own mistakes or things that have gone well for you."

One way he definitely can grow to be better is fourth down decisions, both when to gamble and the play called.

Johnson came from the staff of Dan Campbell, who seemingly never met a fourth-down he wouldn't try to convert. This type of thinking was apparently learned because the Bears were one of the more aggressive teams on fourth down last year.

Even a team known for the famed fourth-and-8 jump pass conversion for 27 yards to Rome Odunze on the cover of Madden can be better. They can be much better.

Last year the Bear converted only 51.7% of fourth-down gambles, which ranked 21st in the league. Yet, Johnson was more than willing to jump into a fourth-down gamble and sometimes it proved costly.

A good example is the very first drive of the game against the Rams in the playoffs. Thanks to a 34-yard completion to DJ Moore on the first play, they reached the Rams' 21-yard line, but then gambled on fourth-and-2. Caleb Williams threw an interception near the goal line. A simple field goal there would have looked pretty big in the fourth quarter.

Johnson made the 12th-most fourth-down gambles last season, or at least they were fourth-down plays even if not all were gambles. Some were acts of desperation, like fourth-and-8. They had 29 attempts on fourth down.

A team 12th in taking gambles needs to be better than 21st at converting them. If not, they'd be much better off being more conservative.

Pro Football Focus this week delivered a rather misleading set of statistics on fourth-down gambles in an article by Bradley Locker. The Bears were cited for making the fifth-most fourth-down gambles over the last five seasons while ranking 28th for conversion rate.

Things aren't really that bad. The use of five years is flawed in this case because they're including statistics from over three Bears coaching staffs and five play callers. The first two years in those five seasons found the Bears near the very bottom of the league on fourth down, skewing the stat. They've been better for three years, just not the best.

In the Bears' case, focusing on Johnson should suffice and they do need to improve at this even if they are nowhere near as bad as the PFF article suggests.

How they can get better

Having a quarterback who is mobile should help, and the Bears are working at being better getting receivers open for him when he gets out of the pocket. This can mean all the difference in the world on fourth downs.

Johnson pointed to the work they were doing in OTAs and minicamp at extended plays.

“It's certainly an area that we look to emphasize," Johnson said.

He saw examples of success.

"I think we have great examples every single day of the route runners coming alive and making good decisions in terms of how they can separate and find space," he said. "That'll be another thing that we continue to push forward.

"I think once again, the coaching staff, the offensive coaching staff, (offensive coordinator) Press (Taylor), and the rest of those guys have done a really nice job showing them examples of what's good, what we're not looking to do. And those guys have taken it to the next level.”

Another way they could get better is to actually have a tush push plan instead of taking the attitude Johnson has had. Last year he said he didn't like tush pushes because they lacked big-play potential. Then the Steelers ran a pretty big fake off a tush push against the Bears and scored a touchdown on it. Perhaps figuring out how to run the play would help their fourth-down percentage.

Part of being better on tush pushes is Caleb Williams knowing how to do it, or the Bears being willing to risk him carrying the ball in such situations. Better yet, they need someone else to do it. They've tried Cole Kmet in the past and the thinking is he used to be a high school quarterback for a while so he can handle the ball on snaps. But he hasn't been particularly effective at it.

Perhaps they could try Colston Loveland or Sam Roush. A bigger player with movement ability should be able to execute this better without risking the franchise passer.

Their own fourth-down run blocking can be better on simple fourth-down running plays.

Another way they could be better is if Roschon Johnson stays healthy. This is asking a lot considering Johnson hasn't suited up on 15 game days in three seasons. However, he had six touchdowns in 2024 by carrying the ball near the goal line and led the team in rushing TDs. He easily could be an effective weapon on fourth-and-short.

There are numerous ways the Bears can be better on fourth down, whether it's decision-making or executing such plays. It can be a way Johnson becomes a better coach than he was last year, when he was considered for coach of the year.

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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.