Ben Johnson was expected to be a successful head coach. He’d been groomed for it over three years in Detroit, where he thrived as their offensive coordinator. However, nobody thought it would happen this quickly. The Chicago Bears were 5-12 last year. They had been perennial losers for almost a decade. Turning them around would take time. Johnson refused to accept that. He said from the beginning that his goal was to win and win now. After a 0-2 start, the Bears have won nine of their last ten games, seizing control of the NFC’s #1 seed.

There are many reasons for this. It starts with Johnson’s ability to foster belief in his plays. He made it clear what the vision for the team would be: physical, violent, run-oriented, and aggressive. All of those labels perfectly describe what the Bears have become. His infectious intensity has players buying in. That alone is noteworthy, but it’s not what has other NFL teams nervous. One coach told Mike Sando of The Athletic what Johnson’s real superpower is and how it makes the Bears so dangerous.

“Ben threw the ball in the first quarter, and then he said, ‘Am I nuts throwing in the wind with Caleb Williams when I can just run the ball with two backs?’” a coach from another team said. “He adjusted, and that was the impressive part. Vic wants to sit in the two-high shell and roll guys down late. Ben ran in the A-gaps a lot, so it was quick hitting, and the safeties can’t help on the inside fits.”

Ben Johnson doesn’t stick to a script.

Many offensive play callers prefer to craft a plan and keep to it during games. Not Ben Johnson. There was a famous clip from an episode of 1920 Football Drive where he was running a script of plays in practice. They weren’t going well. Rather than continue, the head coach declared he was “going rogue.” In other words, he was tossing the game plan and trying something else. It was the first indication that Johnson doesn’t mind operating in a chaotic environment.

That means you’d better have a defensive play caller who can do the same. Otherwise, you’re in big trouble. Most NFL teams don’t have that luxury, which further explains why Johnson scares them. Vic Fangio doesn’t suck. He’s one of the best in the business, and Johnson still coached circles around him on Black Friday. That would make any rational person uneasy.

Caleb Williams remains a divisive figure among Chicago Bears fans and the national media. On the one hand, he has five 4th quarter comebacks, is 9-3 as a starter this year, and has thrown 17 touchdowns to just five interceptions. However, he has also struggled with accuracy all season, completing just 58% of his passes. Granted, some of that is his receivers not consistently catching the ball, but the problems are well-documented. It leaves people uncertain about his ultimate ceiling. Howie Long isn’t concerned.

The Hall of Fame defensive end played a lot of football in the 1980s and 1990s. He has watched even more since shifting to analysis over the past couple of decades. One would think he’d probably be down on Williams more than other people. You would be wrong. After watching the Bears’ young quarterback since last year, he has begun to see several similarities to a player with whom Long was intimately familiar during his playing days. He revealed the name on NFL On Fox during Sunday’s action.

Howie Long played against Elway for years.

While the Denver Broncos icon was taller at 6’3″, his playing style was remarkably similar to Williams’. Both have cannons for arms. Both were known for holding the ball and making plays with their legs. Also, both showed an uncanny knack for late-game heroics. Elway had 31 4th quarter comebacks in his career. Williams already has seven. Then there is the accuracy thing. People often overlook that Elway wasn’t pinpoint with his throws early in his career. His 53.4% completion percentage through his first three seasons was well below league average. It didn’t really improve much until later in his career.

That didn’t stop him from winning a lot of football games.

It hasn’t stopped Williams either. This obsession with his completion percentage has glossed over the fact that he has won 10 of his last 13 games—six of them by a 4th-quarter comeback. Williams is a gamer. If Howie Long sees shades of Elway in him, that isn’t a bad thing.

The Chicago Bears started the season 0-2. They were already being penciled in as a likely contender for the #1 pick in the 2026 draft. In the two months since then, the team has won eight of its last nine games, reaching 9-3 for the first time since 2018. Their 24-15 drubbing of the Philadelphia Eagles was a signal that this run is not a fluke. They can hang with the best in the NFC. All they had to do was sit back, relax, and see what happens with the playoff picture going into Sunday.

Nobody on the planet saw what came next. The Los Angeles Rams have held the #1 seed in the NFC for most of the year, riding a white hot offense and stellar defense. Most expected that trend to continue against the rollercoaster Carolina Panthers. Instead, the Rams were dealt an ice-cold dose of reality as a stingy Panthers defense and efficient day from Bryce Young resulted in a stunning 31-28 upset. Just like that, L.A. dropped to 8-3, losing their grip on the #1 seed.

The new owner? Those Chicago Bears.

The Chicago Bears are in it for real now.

A big part of this unbelievable turnaround has been their ability to win the most meaningful games. After their 0-2 start against the Lions and Vikings, they have won six straight games against NFC opponents. That 6-2 record against the conference is the reason they have the advantage over the Rams at this point. What’s remarkable is that they’ve managed to do it despite never having everything fall into place. Their defense has been devastated by injuries all year. Offensively, quarterback Caleb Williams continues to suffer accuracy issues. You could argue the Chicago Bears aren’t even playing their best football.

Whether they manage to keep hold of the #1 seed for long is up for debate. Their next game is on the road at Lambeau Field against the surging Green Bay Packers. They have home field, the better defense, and a seeming advantage in health. Beating them will be difficult. If the Bears pull it off, it might be time to start imagining the NFC playoffs going through Soldier Field.