The Chicago Bears‘ offense has been a mess for most of the past decade. Probably longer if we’re being honest. It has either been unmanned from a talent perspective or poorly coached in that time. Head coach Ben Johnson was hired primarily to fix the latter, as the team felt they’d finally addressed the former. He spent months evaluating where the issues were with the team last year. Obviously, the offensive line was a big part of it. That is why the Bears spent considerable money bringing in veterans like Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, and Jonah Jackson. However, Johnson noticed there was another issue. One that had a cascade effect on everything else. Caleb Williams revealed what it was before the team’s bye week.
“Once we get our first down, that’s when we start rolling,” Williams said Tuesday. “That’s within each drive. That’s something that we’re conscious of, something that we’re working our tail off to be at and get to, is to get that first first down each and every single time we go out there.
“From there, everybody gets into a rhythm, gets rolling.”
The Bears had serious issues last season with not staying on the field. They were 31st in 3rd down conversions. They had 47 drives that went three-and-out—three plays and a punt. That doesn’t include turnovers and drives briefly extended by penalties. This year, they’ve jumped to 6th in 3rd down conversions. Keep in mind this is despite having the 24th-ranked rushing attack and serious concerns at left tackle. There is legitimate improvement in this area.
Caleb Williams can see Johnson’s logic.
Ask any expert who knows the game down to the fundamentals. They will all tell you that this sport is won and lost at the highest level on 3rd down. Look at last year’s Super Bowl champions. Philadelphia was 11th on offense and 8th on defense. The previous year, Kansas City ranked 6th on offense and 5th on defense. In 2022, they were 2nd on offense and 22nd on defense. History shows you must be good on both sides of the ball or great at one of them to win a championship in this league. The Bears are 6th on offense and 1st on defense so far this season. That is a big reason why they’ve managed to rebound from their brutal 0-2 start.
If this trend can hold the rest of the season, they might achieve their first winning record in seven years. Johnson deserves credit for getting this team to execute better in such important situations. Caleb Williams is at the forefront of it.
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