JJ Watt will be in the Hall of Fame soon enough. He was the best pass rusher of his generation. So the guy knows a lot about what good offenses look like. After all, he went against peak Lamar Jackson, peak Cam Newton, peak Peyton Manning, peak Tom Brady, and peak Aaron Rodgers. Great quarterbacks may lead the way, but you’ll often find great play callers behind them. From what he’s seen over the past three months, the Chicago Bears have found one of the best in Ben Johnson.

Watt has followed the progress of this offense since it began in September. There is no denying that Johnson’s creativity remains on display, but that might not be his superpower. The Bears head coach is becoming a master at making adjustments, both in-game and in-season. The former edge rusher explained on The Pat McAfee Show.

“I mean, I’ve talked about Ben Johnson multiple times, but just the things that he does and how blunt and honest he is about correcting issues that are wrong. He talked about the passing game. If you go back to their bye week, he talked about fixing their run game, and ever since that bye week, the running game has been on fire. It’s been unbelieveable. Now, he’s talked about fixing their passing game, and you would imagine when he says something, he’s going to get it fixed because that’s what we’ve seen before. His players respect it, and not only is he fixing things, he’s doing it while winning.”

Johnson is a maestro when it comes to finding solutions.

Yet that isn’t even what would scare Watt the most about this offense. It is more the fact that this isn’t even its final form. We are still seeing the baby version of Johnson’s system.

“Like, they are in first place in the NFC. That’s the Chicago Bears, who last year had a complete collapse and fell apart. He’s come in and done this, and he hasn’t even added that second full offseason to do everything he wants to do, so I think the sky’s the limit there when he continues to get Caleb (Williams) to develop.”

JJ Watt realizes Johnson hasn’t gone Super Saiyan yet.

He’s fighting every opponent this year in his base form. Yet he’s still on pace to put up 443 points this season, which would be the third-most in franchise history. No wonder JJ Watt is in awe of what Johnson is doing. If this is what he can accomplish with the basic stuff, there is no telling how much deadlier the Bears will be once they start digging deeper into the playbook. Remember, the Detroit Lions went from scoring 453 points to 461 and finally 564 under Johnson. It gets better and better as the layers unfold.

Much of this hinges on quarterback Caleb Williams. Chicago can already run the ball among the NFL’s best thanks to Johnson’s scheming and excellent play up front. The one thing holding everything back is the passing game. Williams has improved significantly in running the system efficiently. He just hasn’t been able to string together enough completions. Everybody knows that it is the final door to unlock. Whenever it happens, this offense will transform into something the NFL doesn’t want to see.

The Chicago Bears defense has turned into one of the NFL’s most dangerous units, and no player embodies that rise more than Nahshon Wright. The 6’4” cornerback was officially named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November, capping a stretch that transformed him from a depth signing into a legitimate playmaker.

Wright didn’t hide how much this run means to him. When asked to describe his season, he called it “magical” — a fitting word for a month where everything clicked. His production alone tells the story: three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and multiple takeaways in critical moments. These weren’t empty stats. Wright flipped field position, stole possessions, and changed momentum in a month where every game mattered. The Bears ultimately finished November 5-0.

Coaching Matters

A major factor in his rise is his connection with secondary coach Al Harris. Wright always had the traits — long, fast, and disruptive at the catch point — but Harris has sharpened his technique, helping him bait quarterbacks and close passing windows at an elite level. That relationship is thriving, and the results are undeniable.

What makes Wright’s breakout even more exciting for Chicago is what’s coming next. The Bears are getting healthier, with Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon returning to the lineup. Johnson is an All-Pro caliber corner. Gordon is one of the NFL’s most versatile and talented nickelbacks in the league. With Wright playing the best football of his career, Chicago’s defense might not have even reached its final form.

Of course, success brings difficult decisions. Wright has played himself into a new deal, and with big contracts already on the defensive side, Tyrique Stevenson could become the odd man out next offseason due to simple roster economics.

Good teams face hard choices. And Wright’s rise is exactly the kind you want — earned through production, trust, and playmaking. For the Bears, “magical” might just be the beginning as they head into Green Bay this week sitting at 9-3.

The Chicago Bears Just Proved They’re Contenders

One inescapable fact about the NFL is that, despite being a team game, many of the problems are directed at the quarterback. If they aren’t putting up good numbers and winning, a large share of the blame falls on their shoulders. Such is the case with Caleb Williams. While he’s done a tremendous job in helping guide the Chicago Bears to a 9-3 record, people still don’t feel he’s playing well enough. He has one of the worst completion percentages among NFL starters (58.1%), and it reflects in several throws that aren’t accurate enough.

However, this reality makes it way too easy to shovel all of the blame onto Williams for why the passing attack isn’t clicking. The truth is, he’s not the only culprit. Chicago has also been plagued by issues with their wide receivers, namely their inability to run routes properly. Doug Farrar of Athlon Sports mentioned it while reviewing Williams’ tape.

And yes, Johnson is right about Williams’ receivers not always being on the same page. This makes sense in a complicated passing game like the one Johnson is installing in Chicago — the time investment will be worth it when it all comes together because your offense will be tethered to variety as opposed to simplicity, but it can be a little crunky at times to start.

He wasn’t the only one to notice.

Ted Nguyen of The Athletic mentioned the same thing during his own study. While Williams does have his misfires, the problem is that his receivers aren’t helping him when he does throw good balls.

Right now, the Bears’ passing game is out of sync. When Williams does throw a well-placed, timing pass, his receivers slip or drop the ball, and when they get open, he’ll miss them. An encouraging sign is that Williams is finding the open receiver and he’s throwing the ball on time.

There was more evidence in the Bears’ win over the Eagles in Philadelphia. On one play, D.J. Moore slips coming out of a break on what was a good throw from Williams. On another play, Luther Burden appears to stop and start his route, which leads to him stumbling and not being in the right spot for Williams’ pass. Little things like this keep popping up.

The Chicago Bears still aren’t executing with precision.

That has always been the key to great passing games. The quarterback and receivers must know what the other will do on every given play. Everybody must be on the same page. That hasn’t been happening with the Chicago Bears. Not only are the receivers messing up their routes every so often, but they’re also dropping way too many passes. The Bears are tied for 6th in the league with 18 drops this season. You’re not going to succeed at anything until those issues get cleaned up.

It is okay to be critical of Williams. He has earned a healthy portion of it. His footwork is still a work in progress, and he hasn’t yet mastered playing on time. That said, claiming the problems with this passing game was all him never felt realistic. His receivers aren’t pulling their weight, which is frustrating considering how much the Bears invested in this group. They need to start making more plays. Head coach Ben Johnson alluded to this multiple times over the past week. He wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true.

Rob Gronkowski may have a reputation befitting the classic big, dumb jock. Don’t be fooled. He knows a lot more about football than he lets on. You don’t become a future Hall of Fame tight end by not knowing what you’re doing. He’s played for some of the best offensive minds of the past quarter-century. It started with Josh McDaniels in New England and ended with Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay. Gronk knows what the good ones are supposed to look like. It might be interesting to get his opinion on Ben Johnson and his counterpart, Matt Lafleur, this Sunday.

Gronkowski appeared on the Up & Adams show on Wednesday. He was asked a straightforward question. If given the choice, which offense would he rather play in? The Chicago Bears under Johnson or the Green Bay Packers under Lafleur. While the former tight end said both coaches are great at what they do, he feels Johnson is superior for two key reasons.

One is creativity, and the other is aggression. Despite Lafleur’s prowess, he tends to be somewhat vanilla and conservative in his approach.

Ben Johnson is unapologetic about his approach.

Being aggressive is something ingrained in him. He believes hunting big plays is the fastest way to winning football games in the NFL. Sure, there is a fine line between aggressive and reckless, but he continues to show a clear understanding of the boundary. Chicago leads the NFL with 94 big plays this season, which are rushes of 10 yards or more and passes of 20 yards or more. The fact that he’s doing this with an offense filled mostly with players he didn’t acquire is nothing short of miraculous.

Lafleur has been running the same offense for years. It has remained highly productive throughout that time, but not to the same degree as Johnson’s. This is most evident in the playoffs. Green Bay has averaged 24 points per game under Lafleur. Detroit averaged 29 with Ben Johnson. No doubt the Packers head coach is eager to prove everybody wrong on Sunday with a decisive win over the Bears. One thing is certain. That city may turn on him if he doesn’t. All the pressure seems to be on him.