Ben Johnson is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL. Nobody can dispute that. His feel for play calling is second to none. However, like any other great coach, he’s not immune to certain flaws. For the Chicago Bears head coach, his biggest might be understanding his personnel usage. For months, the passing game has been stuck in a stop-start situation. Across entire quarters, they’re stuck in the mud, unable to do anything. Then all of a sudden, they find a spark and put together some impressive drives.

Most of the attention has been directed at Caleb Williams for his supposed accuracy problems. That is part of it, but not nearly all of it. One issue that hasn’t been mentioned enough is the target distribution. One could argue that Johnson isn’t getting the ball enough to the guys who have been making the most plays. Here is some data to help illustrate the point.

Bears receiving leaders since the start of November

• Colston Loveland – 324 yards and 4 TDs
• Luther Burden – 224 yards
• Rome Odunze – 188 yards and 1 TD
• D.J. Moore – 167 yards and 2 TDs

Bears target leaders since the start of November

• Rome Odunze – 34
• Colston Loveland – 31
• D.J. Moore – 28
• Luther Burden – 25

Chicago has gotten the most juice from their two rookies, Loveland and Burden, for over a month now. Yet they aren’t the two most targeted players. That has to change.

Ben Johnson needs to get over the rookie label.

Yes, Loveland and Burden are inexperienced. They’re also the two most explosive weapons you have. They also clearly have the confidence of Williams, who hasn’t hesitated to throw it their way. Odunze is hurt. Moore doesn’t seem to have chemistry with the quarterback for whatever reason. Cole Kmet isn’t explosive enough. Olamide Zacchaeus has drop issues. Ben Johnson is a smart guy. Smart coaches understand the primary responsibility is getting the ball in the hands of your biggest playmakers.

That is Loveland and Burden.

They were the ones who sparked the second half comeback in Green Bay. Both were crucial to taking down Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago. Neither has done anything to suggest they’re untrustworthy. Johnson may feel like he has a lot of mouths to feed, but his job isn’t to keep everybody happy. His job is to get the ball to guys who make plays for the quarterback. Those two have done that consistently most of the season. It is time to accept that reality and take off the training wheels.

The Chicago Bears have seemed to find ways to get involved with wild scandals over the past couple of years. First, it was former defensive coordinator Alan Williams using his computer at work to engage in a personal relationship with a woman, who then tried to blackmail him. Then, former running backs coach David Walker was sexually harassing a female employee. Fans were perplexed at how such random stuff kept happening. Well, their confusion is about to hit another level.

College football was rocked by a massive scandal on Wednesday when Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore was fired. It soon became apparent that he was involved in an intimate relationship with one of his staff members. Not only that, but it’s believed he got her pregnant, broke into her house, and threatened to kill both her and himself. Police were able to intervene before anybody was hurt, and Moore is now in custody. Details on his status haven’t been revealed beyond that.

Sherrone Moore was detained by police in Saline, Michigan, on Wednesday and was later turned over to a second area police department for investigation into potential charges, the Saline Police Department stated.

“The City of Saline Police Department assisted in locating and detaining former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore,” the department said in a statement released to ESPN. “Mr. Moore was turned over to the Pittsfield Township Police Department for investigation into potential charges.”

So what does this have to do with the Chicago Bears?

That’s a fair question. Here is where the details get insane. Allegedly, the woman Moore was involved with was named Paige Shiver. She is the daughter of longtime Bears executive scout Jeff Shiver. He has been with the organization in that capacity for 40 years. The man is highly respected inside the organization. If this is true, it is a monumental issue for a man who has been steady and hardworking for decades.

National outlets haven’t yet commented on whether the Shiver information is true. That is likely because police are involved and details will be tightly controlled until they’re ready to release them. Such is what happens in criminal investigations. Shiver’s social media profiles have gone private, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation from running rampant. One can only imagine what Jeff might be thinking. He likely never would’ve dreamed he’d be involved in something of this scale.

It must feel so much worse that it’s his daughter. One can only hope it’s all a misunderstanding and somebody else was involved. Either way, Moore clearly needs professional help.

Don’t get it twisted. Caleb Williams clearly loves Ben Johnson’s offense. He is playing much better football than he did last season, despite what the statistics may or may not indicate. His understanding of the game has deepened by multiple degrees. Williams’ ability to manage the game and control the offense is undeniable. That said, his numbers have not yet caught up. His completion percentage is among the worst of all starters in the NFL. He’s missing way too many of the easier throws, which throws off his rhythm and leads to slow starts.

Fixing that issue is the top priority moving forward. However, Williams appears to have grasped a fundamental truth about Johnson’s offense that he lacked when the season began. There is no way he’s mastering it this year. The quarterback openly admitted it during his recent presser when asked what he likes about Johnson.

“Our open communication. I think it’s just the bond we are building. The details this offense takes, it is going to take a little more than a year to get on his level.”

Such honesty is not hard to understand. Johnson’s system is notorious for being complex. It has several layers to it, meant to have answers for everything defenses try. While that makes it incredibly hard to stop, it is also incredibly hard to learn.

Caleb Williams finally found the one thing he needed: patience.

Last season, it felt like the Chicago Bears quarterback was trying to rush the process. He looked to cut corners, hoping to jump straight to excellence immediately. GM Ryan Poles alluded to this multiple times. It didn’t work. Caleb Williams took 68 sacks and looked lost for long stretches during games. Johnson made it clear upon arrival that there would be no skipping the details. Either the quarterback would learn to master everything, or he could expect to get replaced at some point. Williams embraced the challenge.

Compared to where he was in August and September, it is remarkable how far the quarterback has come. He’s executing at such a high level in long spurts, looking more like a professional every week. This is with the knowledge that he probably hasn’t run even 50% of the entire playbook yet. That is the scary part. The longer this goes on, the more tools in the box Williams will have at his disposal. Once he stops thinking and starts reacting, there will be nothing opponents can do to stop him.

The trick was always learning to embrace the grind.

If there was ever a game built for Kyle Monangai, it’s this one. The forecast in Chicago calls for brutal, freezing conditions — a wind chill that could dip near –20 degrees — the kind of weather that turns football into a fistfight at the line of scrimmage. And in that environment, Monangai becomes the most dangerous player on the field. He showed it last week against Green Bay.

Monangai’s entire identity as a running back translates perfectly to cold-weather football. He’s compact, powerful, and relentless through contact. His balance is great, defenders bounce off him, especially when tackling becomes harder and footing disappears. A great example can be seen below from a run against Green Bay last Sunday.

In a game where throwing could be limited by wind and bitter cold, Ben Johnson is expected to lean heavily on the run, and Monangai is built to carry the offense alongside D’Andre Swift.

For Cleveland, this is a nightmare scenario. The Browns defense is explosive off the edge, but their biggest vulnerability has been sustaining drives against downhill power. Their pass rush can’t take over if Chicago stays on schedule with early down runs, and Monangai is the type of back who consistently turns two-yard gains into five. Every hit will sting in that weather. Every attempt to tackle him will feel like punishment.

Johnson won’t overcomplicate this. Expect a steady diet of Monangai pounding the Browns front seven all afternoon. As the game wears on, the conditions and physicality will tilt toward Chicago especially if they lean on their offensive line. Green Bay got worn down in the second half. I expect the Bears to take the Browns to the deep end as well.

On Sunday, Kyle Monangai is Cleveland’s worst nightmare in the cold.