Bear Digest

How Ben Johnson's Bears offense compares to his first Lions attack

It's not the Lions offense but Ben Johnson's Bears offense but it makes for an interesting comparison to see how the two stacked up in Year 1 under the same coach.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams' progress in eight games helped the Bears climb ahead of the pace coach Ben Johnson's first Lions offense had.
Caleb Williams' progress in eight games helped the Bears climb ahead of the pace coach Ben Johnson's first Lions offense had. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

When Ben Johnson took over the Bears, he had to explain something to everyone about the offensive system he brought to Halas Hall to fit Caleb Williams.

It's not the Lions offense. It's theirs, and Caleb Williams' offense now.

"This offense will be calibrated with him in mind," Johnson said. "We're going to build this thing. This is not simply a dropping of a previous playbook down on the table and starting there.

"Nope, we're ripping this thing down to the studs, and we're going to build it out with  him first and foremost, and then with the pieces around him next."


It wasn't a case of rebuilding the Lions/Ben Johnson offense but building a Bears offense around Williams.

"It’s looking more like I want it to look, that he wants it to look like," Johnson said Monday. "I can think of one particular instance off the top of my head before halftime where we called a play and they ended up clouding it to the side of the primary. So that’s not there, he gets through his progression and quickly dumps the ball to the back as he’s stepping up in the pocket.

“Now we didn’t throw our best ball. It was a little bit high, we didn’t haul it in, but that to me was what we want this quarterback to look like as he’s playing within the timing and the rhythm of this offense and trusting his feet to take him through the progressions. Something for us to build on.  There’s a couple that we can continue to clean up. I think he’s starting to play faster. The more reps we’re getting on some of these concepts, he’s understanding the intent, the coverages that we’re really looking to get and if we’re not getting those coverages, can we quickly get to No. 2, No. 3 or even look to run with that ball It’s coming along nicely.”

Williams definitely didn't get more accurate Sunday at 58.8% completions for the game, but it's coming along more than nicely with the overall attack.  

While it isn't the Lions attack he built, the comparison is inevitable and valid.

The Bears and Williams are ahead of the Lions offense in Johnson's first year as offensive coordinator with veteran Jared Goff at quarterback. The Lions finished 9-8 in that season and even at 5-3 the Bears could find that record difficult to achieve with the gauntlet of a schedule they have left.

Still, a team so rarely high in offensive rankings can't help but feel  good about where they are at when they are ranked fourth in the league on offense at 378.375 yards per game, just behind third-place Dallas (378.444). The last time the Bears finished higher than fourth was 1977 when Walter Payton was young and carried their attack to third overall.

Whatever way you look at it, the Bears are ahead of or right on the pace Johnson set while running Detroit's offense.

Here's where they rank compared to Ben Johnson's first year at running the offense in Detroit.

The Bears are sixth in scoring (26.9 per game) while the Lions were ninth after  eight games (24.7) before eventually finishing fifth (26.6).

Chicago is second in rushing (144.4 yards per game) and Detroit was 10th (136.6) at this point before finishing 11th (128.2).

The Bears are 10th in passing (234.0) while the Lions were seventh at this time (258.3) en route to an eighth-place finish (251.8).

The Bears offense is fourth overall in yards at 378.375 per game and Detroit was fourth in yardage at this point (394.9) before finishing fourth (380).

Johnson long ago gained the total confidence of the players he's coaching, and the statistics through the first half of the season only say their feeling is justified.

“He sets the standard for everybody in the building and he’s very passionate about it," Bears wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus said. "And you can just tell he’s just authentically himself and he’s such an easy coach to play for because you see how real and true he is day-in and day-out and how much he cares about the vision and our purpose here.”

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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.