Why Ben Johnson Views The Bears’ 2025 Season As A Failure

By almost any metric, the Chicago Bears‘ 2025 season was a huge success. This is a team that went 5-12 in 2024. They were the laughingstock of the NFL thanks to a 10-game losing streak and an absurd number of controversies surrounding their coaching staff. Ben Johnson arrived that January with a clear mission in mind. He aimed to win immediately. While people applauded the ambition, most expected the Bears to hover around eight wins. You can imagine their shock when they, instead, went 11-6, won the division, and beat the Green Bay Packers in the wild card round.

It was one of the most successful single-season turnarounds in franchise history. As far as Coach Johnson is concerned, it was a failure. He didn’t mince words about it during his press conference at the scouting combine on Tuesday. His goal remains one thing and one thing only: win the Super Bowl. By failing to achieve that last season, it was nothing more than a grim reminder that both he and the Bears weren’t good enough. That is why he aims to push even harder this year.

“We fell short of our ultimate goal, which was to win the championship. And so the biggest thing is we don’t confuse the postseason victory or exceeding expectations from outside of the building, that it’s OK to be complacent. It’s not. It’s not. We didn’t do enough. And so we’ve got to do more. We’ve got to give more than what we gave a year ago – coaching staff, players, everyone in that building. We have to do a little bit more. And so when you look at it that way, yeah, we are back to ground zero, and we’ve got to continue to build on this thing.”

Ben Johnson aims to join an exclusive club in 2026.

In case it wasn’t already clear, nothing short of a Lombardi trophy will suffice this season. He intends to whip this team into shape, seeking as much talent as possible to fortify the roster. Once done, he’ll have everybody sharp in training camp, preparing to renew the chase in September. He’s not dumb. The Bears face a much tougher schedule this time around. They won’t sneak up on teams like before. If he wants the crown, he’ll have to earn it. Only eight head coaches in all of NFL history have won a championship in their second season on the job.

That should tell you the challenge Ben Johnson faces. All those coaches listed above have notable advantages to help make it possible. Billick, Tomlin, and Kubiak inherited all-time great defenses. Belichick lucked into Tom Brady at quarterback while Pederson had the best roster in the league. Switzer took over a team that had already won back-to-back titles. Gibbs and Flores took over rosters still littered with future Hall of Fame talent. If Johnson wants to join them, he’ll need some type of advantage to lead the way.

There is a clear list of goals for Johnson.

He said it from the outset. Retool the secondary, upgrade the pass rush, and find a left tackle. Ozzy Trapilo likely won’t play in 2026, meaning the Bears must find somebody who can handle the job for at least a year. Both starting safeties are about to become free agents. If the Bears aim to keep one, they must get to work on it or do lots of research on potential replacements. There are also decisions to make at linebacker, with Tremaine Edmunds likely to be cut. Lastly, it’s about finding some difference-makers up front.

Though Ben Johnson is an offensive coach, he isn’t dumb. He has a sharp enough eye for talent to recognize the good ones. Chicago has limited cap space and no extra draft picks. That means they must be extra careful with their resources. They can’t afford to be careless. Not if they want to make a serious run this year.