The tactic almost never works. Yet the Chicago Bears were about to try it for a third time. Drafting a quarterback under one coach, firing that coach, and hiring a new one had not done the organization favors. They drafted Mitch Trubisky, fired John Fox the next year, and hired Matt Nagy. That worked for one season, soured, and Trubisky wasn’t kept around. Nagy then drafted Justin Fields, only to be fired the next year and replaced with Matt Eberflus. That didn’t work either, but Eberflus was still allowed to oversee the drafting of Caleb Williams. Sure enough, that partnership was a fiasco, and the coach was fired midseason. Enter Ben Johnson.

Critics were furious. The Bears were treading the same path again, hiring a new coach who had no hand in drafting the quarterback. What if Johnson didn’t like Williams’ playing style? What if Williams didn’t like Johnson’s more pro-style system and notoriously intense coaching? It felt like a powder keg just begging for a match. Yet almost a year later, the two are in the playoffs with Williams operating like a top 10 quarterback. At some point, their relationship clicked. Williams was asked how it happened.

“The constant meetings, the constant communication, his consistency in who he is. He wasn’t on one day and off the next or on one week and off the next. That’s who he’s been. That’s how he’s going to be. So when you can sit back and realize that’s who somebody is, the respect, the trust, the loyalty grows, and then you go out there on the football field, and what he’s saying works and the plays work and the alignments and assignments, they work. That trust and loyalty starts to grow, and you build more of that, and then the bond and all of that starts to grow a lot more.”

Ben Johnson didn’t tell Williams. He showed.

That is often a mistake many coaches make. They tell players what to do without being able to back up their words with proof. Williams knew Johnson had a reputation for success in Detroit. However, coming to Chicago and duplicating it without Dan Campbell’s oversight had many skeptical. Williams was not the same type of quarterback as Jared Goff. Could the coach mold his system to fit what the Bears starter did best while also teaching him how to play the more traditional style?

The obvious answer is yes.

Once Williams saw plays starting to cross up defenses, leaving receivers and rushing lanes open, he knew the Bears had the right guy. Ben Johnson had the expertise necessary to make Williams a star. What he needed was the trust and commitment to learn what was a complex and detailed system—the quarterback dove in headfirst. Now Williams has over 2,000 yards, 16 touchdowns, and two interceptions in his last nine games. The Bears are 7-2 in that slate.

Ian Cunningham was a prominent name in the NFL front office circuit even before he joined the Chicago Bears in 2022. Before that, he’d played a big part in helping the Philadelphia Eagles build their first Super Bowl championship team in 2017. Before that, he’d come up in the Baltimore Ravens’ vaunted scouting system, during which he won a Super Bowl in 2012. Everyone around the league knew his reputation. He’s gotten multiple interviews for GM jobs each of the past few years. None of it has happened yet.

It was felt that the Bears’ lack of on-field success was holding him back. Teams are usually reluctant to take chances on young executives who come from losing organizations. All of that changed this year as Chicago broke through for an 11-5 record, winning the NFC North title. It’s been highlighted by the ascent of several young players Cunningham helped draft, including Darnell Wright, Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland, and Luther Burden. According to ESPN, this has put the assistant GM atop the list of hottest GM candidates.

Names that come up fairly often for the general manager cycle include Green Bay vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan and Indianapolis assistant general manager Ed Dodds. They have significant personnel experience. Also, Chicago assistant GM Ian Cunningham has been a fixture on the scene and has helped build Chicago into a winner.

Losing Ian Cunningham will be tough for the Bears.

Not only is he a credible talent evaluator, but it’s his leadership and steady presence that have been felt the most. Nobody has done a better job of curbing Ryan Poles’ urges than him. There have been a few instances where the Bears’ GM has wanted to be aggressive early in a draft to select players he wants. Every time, it was Ian Cunningham who talked him down, insisting they trust the board. Losing that calming presence won’t be easy. Someone will have to step up in his place to keep Poles grounded.

Based on the current structure of the Bears’ front office, it’s a reasonable guess that senior director of player personnel Jeff King is the heir apparent to Cunningham’s assistant GM position. His voice has been growing inside the building over the past couple of years. Poles clearly trusts him and he’s well-respected by everybody. The interesting part will be whether Cunningham tries to bring anyone with him whenever he gets that job.

The Chicago Bears have come a long way in the past couple of months. Things couldn’t have started worse for them in September. They coughed up a big 4th quarter lead on opening night to the Minnesota Vikings. Then the next week, they were crushed 52-21 in Detroit. It was arguably the lowest point for many Bears fans in a long time. Nothing had changed. The team was still terrible. However, head coach Ben Johnson remained resolute. He stated without any doubt that quarterback Caleb Williams and the rest of the team would improve.

In fact, they would end up playing their best football of the year in December, right when it was needed. Nobody took him seriously at the time.

“It is early in the season. There are a number of teams that have started the season not the way that they would like to and yet they bounce back, and they find a way to win. We’re going to be playing our best football in December. I know that to be certain. We’re just in a race right now to get better in a hurry, and the faster we get there, the wins will start coming and we’ll be just fine.”

Time has proven him wise. The Bears are 2-2 in December this year, including a monumental win over the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field. Both losses ended with the team mere yards from scoring a game-tying or winning touchdown. Yet the biggest development by far has been that of Williams. He’s playing elite-caliber football over the past month, and it includes fixing some of his biggest issues.

Caleb Williams has found his stride.

Look at it like this. If you take his numbers over the past month and average them out to a full season, he would finish with 4,284 yards, 34 touchdowns, and four interceptions. That is what the best quarterbacks in the NFL put up. A Bears quarterback is now on that kind of pace, and he’s doing it with a completion percentage that is still among the NFL’s worst. That is probably what should terrify other teams the most. If this is the inefficient version of Caleb Williams, what could it become once he cleans up the remaining minor issues?

All that aside, it’s time to give Johnson his flowers. He didn’t wait until the Bears were improving to make that statement about December. He said it at their lowest point, showing his conviction and brilliance. He knew that if he got everybody on the same page as planned, this team would come together. It took some wild twists and turns along the way, but the Bears got there. You know a coach is good at what he does when he can make his predictions come true, especially about his quarterback.

A strong debate is raging among fans and experts about what the Chicago Bears should do on Sunday in the regular season finale. Some believe head coach Ben Johnson has little to gain at this point aside from determining the #2 or #3 seed. Keeping his top players healthy is more important. He should focus on resting key guys and having them ready for the playoffs. Others feel the #2 seed is more than valuable enough to keep chasing, not to mention the desire to avoid a two-game losing streak going into the tournament.

Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune spoke to people around the NFL about it. They seem to agree that Johnson is doing the right thing by going for the win against the Detroit Lions. The reasoning isn’t just about getting that extra guaranteed home game. It is also about determining who they play in the wild card round.

“I’d rather play Green Bay because they’re beat up,” a pro scout for another club said Sunday night. “No Micah Parsons. Is Love going to be back? They were in tatters against Baltimore. Those NFC West clubs, especially L.A. and San Francisco, they’ve got quarterbacks (Matthew Stafford and Brock Purdy) plus Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. I wouldn’t want to see either one of them right off the bat.”

It’s an interesting point. San Francisco has already shown that they can score basically at will against Chicago. Los Angeles has a much better defense, complemented by a loaded passing attack. The Bears also already know they can beat Green Bay.

Ben Johnson knows they must beat four good teams regardless.

If they want to win a championship, it will take four victories against opponents who are all capable of making a run. That is what the playoffs are about. Determining who the best of the best is. However, there is something to be said for momentum. Winning that first game is arguably as important as the last. Many good teams have entered the postseason with impressive records but have faltered down the stretch. As a result, they came out flat in the opener and were quickly eliminated. The Philadelphia Eagles in 2023 are a perfect example. They started 10-1, lost five of their last six, and were crushed by Tampa Bay in the wild card round.

Ben Johnson has no intention of letting that happen. He has plenty of incentives to go for the win against his former team this weekend. The Chicago Bears can secure an extra home game, chase 4,000 yards for Caleb Williams, and set up a rematch with a Packers team that is clearly floundering. Remember, the Bears are 6-1 at home this season. Wanting to secure two guaranteed games at Soldier Field is plenty logical, regardless of who it’s against.