Bears’ biggest early surprise in 2025 is everything fans hoped for

The Chicago Bears’ biggest early-season surprise in 2025 has lived up to the hype — and it’s giving fans exactly what they wanted.

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Chicago Bears fans had high hopes for the 2025 season. And even though the team is 1-2 after three games, some of those high hopes are beginning to come to fruition.

Sure, it would've been nice to see the Bears defeat either the Minnesota Vikings or Detroit Lions in one of their first two games, but Chicago's dismantling of the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 was, in a word, sweet.

Coach Ben Johnson led an offensive explosion that included a 65-yard touchdown on a trick play, and a 19-play, ground-and-pound touchdown drive a few quarters later.

Johnson pitched a near-perfect game as a play-caller, and much of his success has been because of the improved play from quarterback Caleb Williams in his second season.

Notably, Williams' improved downfield passing has lit a spark on offense and was recently dubbed the team's biggest surprise through three games.

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"Only Lamar Jackson and Matthew Stafford have generated more first downs by way of throws that have traveled 15-plus yards (Williams has 10)," Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon wrote. "The sophomore No. 1 overall pick also ranks seventh among qualifiers with 4.4 completed air yards per attempt, which is way up from a mark of 3.0 in 2024. Figured the Ben Johnson offense would help him in Year 2, but a magnificent Week 3 performance indicates that's happening surprisingly quickly considering his rookie struggles and big changes all around him."

Williams has been the target of unfair criticism to start the season, mainly because Bears fell to 0-2 without him having a signature performance.

But his development in 2025 is obvious. He's thrown seven touchdowns to only one interception, and has a passer rating of 107.6, up from 87.8 as a rookie.

This is the type of development on offense, and at quarterback, that Chicago Bears fans needed to see. There was so much hype and excitment around the hiring of Ben Johnson that anything less than big plays and lots of points would've qualified as a disappointment.

Indeed, it's only one game with that type of output. But it felt like an ah-ha moment for Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson, who continue to learn more about each other with every snap on offense.

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