The Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams met in the playoffs last season, battling into overtime in one of the best games of the entire postseason. It was old gun Matthew Stafford vs. young gun Caleb Williams. However, the bigger battle felt like it was between head coaches Sean McVay and Ben Johnson. McVay, long renowned as one of the great offensive minds of this generation, would take on the rapidly ascending Johnson, who has had a top 10 offense every year he has called plays. While the game’s conditions didn’t allow for lots of points, it did showcase moments when the two men demonstrated their exceptional skills.
In fact, author Bobby Peters went so far as to say that McVay and Johnson are the two best pure play callers and play designers in the NFL right now.
This is no small thing. Being a great play caller and play designer has a long track record of creating team success in the NFL. You can go back through each decade and find the names who were considered the best play callers in the game at that time. Don’t be shocked if you find them also winning a lot of games.
| Decade | Play-Caller | Primary Team(s) | Decade Coaching Record | Championship/Super Bowl Appearances (In Decade) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | Sid Gillman | Chargers | 87–51–6 (.625) | 5 AFL Title Games (Won 1963) |
| 1970s | Don Coryell | Cardinals / Chargers | 54–44–1 (.551) | 0 appearances (Reached 1979 AFC Title Game) |
| 1980s | Bill Walsh | San Francisco 49ers | 102–63–1 (.617) | 3 Super Bowl appearances (Won XVI, XIX, XXIII) |
| 1990s | Mike Holmgren | Packers / Seahawks | 92–51–0 (.643) | 2 Super Bowl appearances (Won XXXI, Lost XXXII) |
| 2000s | Sean Payton | Saints | 43–27–0 (.614) | 1 Super Bowl appearance (Won XLIV) |
| 2010s | Andy Reid | Eagles / Chiefs | 108–65–0 (.624) | 1 Super Bowl appearance (Won LIV) |
| 2020s | Sean McVay | Rams | 67–46–0 (.593) | 1 Super Bowl appearance (Won LVI) |
The Ben Johnson hire followed a proven trend.
There is a reason NFL teams have long been chasing the top offensive minds in the sport. That is because they know if you somehow land one of the best, and he also happens to be a good head coach, you’re going to chase championships. You can see that from the table above. Every single one of those coaches made at least one deep playoff run in the decade. Six of them won a championship. The overarching point is that if you score a lot of points, you’re probably going to win a lot of football games.
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Johnson already proved that last season. In years past, if the Bears had a defense as bad as the one they did in 2025, they would have been likely to pick in the top five again. Instead, they won 11 games, stole the NFC North crown, and won a playoff game. That is because they consistently found ways to stay in games by scoring when they had to. Much of that came from Johnson’s ability to craft a diverse rushing attack while developing Caleb Williams into a more well-rounded quarterback.
The Bears are finally equipped to be competitive every year.
We already knew Ben Johnson was a great offensive mind before he even arrived in Chicago. His ability to craft diverse attacks and put his players in position to succeed was the biggest selling point. However, now we know he is also a tremendous leader. When you combine those two traits together, you get winners. McVay has proven that for almost a decade now. He’s reached two Super Bowls and won one. Many believe he is on the cusp of claiming a second this season, which would likely cement his Hall of Fame case.
Johnson has already said he plans to make Canton one day. He said as much when he was an assistant in Miami. The sheer focus and relentless competitive streak have gotten him this far. This is not a man content with the status quo. He is constantly looking for new ways to beat defenses. Hell, one of the reasons he hired new running backs coach Eric Studesville was to get some insight into former head coach Mike McDaniel’s run schemes. The dude is a maniac and also a genius.
If he truly is on McVay’s level, things should stay fun for a long time.
