Kurt Warner built a Hall of Fame career by understanding what separates great coaches from everybody else. He was fortunate enough to play with a few of them during his run as a quarterback. There was Mike Martz in St. Louis and, later, Todd Haley in Arizona. Both were sharp offensive minds that had a firm grasp on what it took to attack defenses. Based on what he’s seen this year, Ben Johnson has those same characteristics as a player caller. Aside from endless creativity, there is something else.
Warner explained on 670 The Score. It is the ability to see into the future, running plays out a specific formation one way for most of the game, only to then run a completely different play out of the same formation.
The epic win on Saturday night against Green Bay serves as evidence. In the 3rd quarter, Chicago was backed up to their 2-yard line. They lined up with two tight ends (Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet) to the left, with a third tight end (Durham Smythe) in the fullback spot. Kmet went in motion to the right side. On the snap, Caleb Williams handed it off to Kyle Monangai, who rumbled for 13 yards.
Fast forward to overtime.
Chicago is at Green Bay’s 46. It’s the same formation and the same personnel. Kmet and Loveland to the left and Smythe at fullback. The Packers had already seen this earlier in the game. They knew a run was coming. It didn’t matter. They had a Cover 0 blitz called, which should have had no issue stopping it. The problem is Johnson was ready for that. Once Green Bay showed blitz, Williams checked to a play action pass. Both safeties bit on the fake, leaving D.J. Moore one-on-one with cornerback Keisean Nixon.
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Ball game.
Kurt Warner understands the advantages of this.
He said that his goal was to make the same things to look different and different things to look the same. In other words, he designs plays specifically for their ability to have run and pass concepts built into them. This way, the offense can adjust to whatever the defense shows. Saturday was merely the latest example. Kurt Warner understands that this philosophy can be particularly unfair to defenses when executed correctly. They’re essentially caught in no-man’s land, forced into situations where they have to think rather than react.
This is what the greatest offensive minds can do. They put defenses into conflict. Once you do that, you have the advantage of surprise. This reason alone justified the Bears’ hiring of Ben Johnson. The fact that he is also a natural leader is merely the icing on the cake. As the weeks go on, it becomes easier and easier to see why the Bears have turned around so quickly. Their offense is a nightmare to dissect, let alone stop. If this is what the future looks like, this team will be a problem for a long time.
