Ben Johnson deserves credit for his adjustments during Saints game

The Chicago Bears have won four consecutive games, as they defeated the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at Soldier field by a score of 26-14. Despite the rushing offense generating over 200 rushing yards and the defense having their fourth consecutive contest with three or more turnovers, there was immense scrutiny from fans and analysts for the poor performance by quarterback Caleb Williams.

Although Williams had a poor game, first-year head coach Ben Johnson deserves significant credit for understanding that his quarterback was struggling and pivoting to secure the win by relying on the rushing offense.

Ben Johnson’s ability to make in-game adjustments is vital as a rookie head coach

When the Bears hired Johnson this past January, it was known that the franchise wasn’t just getting one of the best up-and-coming offensive play-callers as their new head coach, but one of the best offensive minds when it came to running the ball. During Ben Johnson’s time as the Detroit Lions’ offensive play-caller, he oversaw an offense that featured three different 1,000-yard running backs, along with a rushing offense that finished in the top ten for three consecutive years in rushing yards. Despite the success in Detroit, there was concern at the start of 2025 for the Bears’ rushing unit, as they failed to generate over 100 total rushing yards in Week 3 and Week 4.

Since Chicago’s Week 5 bye that featured calls for general manager Ryan Poles to trade for a veteran running back due to D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai not being productive, Ben Johnson’s offense has had back-to-back contest with a 100-yard rusher. Johnson’s primary goal for his offense is to win by running the ball, especially as a way to help set up the passing attack, as a prominent feature for passing plays in the passing scheme is play-action fakes. Without a successful rushing offense to set the tone, the passing offense in the head coach’s scheme is less effective, which has hampered the output offense at times during the beginning of the season.

Despite Caleb Williams playing well in Chicago’s first five games on the 2025 season, he struggled on Sunday against the Saints on multiple fronts. The Bears’ second-year quarterback was inaccurate, failed to play comfortably from the pocket, and appeared to struggle with going through his progressions as several passes were thrown into contested windows or he missed wide open targets. Although developing and winning with Williams at quarterback was the prominent reason why Ben Johnson was hired, he did a tremendous job realizing that his quarterback was off against the Saints.

Ben Johnson made adjustments in the second half

During the first half of Sunday’s game, Williams attempted 17 passes, completing only eight for 97 passing yards with the offense scoring 20 points. Coming out of halftime with a 20-7 lead, Ben Johnson decided to have the offense feature the running game heavily, as Chicago’s quarterback would only attempt nine passes in the second half of the game. Swift would rush for over 124 yards during the contest, while Monangai would record 44 of his 81 rushing yards in the second half, as Johnson took the ball out of his quarterback’s hands.

The decision to lean on the running game on Ben Johnson’s part, especially being a first-year head coach, is a remarkable feat as head coaches in general sometimes have trouble grasping the flow of how a game is going. Instead of trying to get Williams going in the second half and calling more passing plays, Johnson chose to win the game with the rushing offense, knowing that the defense was capable of protecting the lead. It is very rare for an offensive-minded head coach to adopt a conservative gameplan in-game.

First-year head coaches often make a mistake of not having a feel for a game, knowing when momentum is going the wrong direction or if a scheme isn’t working and needs to be changed immediately. For Johnson to understand that the contest against the Saints could be won despite his quarterback being off and deciding to lean on the running game, demonstrates awareness that is only seen by veteran head coaches. Ben Johnson knew that Williams would have better performances in future games and had confidence in his rushing offense, that had not been productive earlier in the season, to help earn a win.

Ben Johnson is proving to be vastly different former head coach Matt Nagy

What is very promising about Ben Johnson’s ability to change his offensive plan during the game and realize that his quarterback wasn’t playing well, is that previous Bears’ head coaches have struggled with those specific issues in prior seasons. The previous head coach that Johnson draws similarities to is Matt Nagy who was Chicago’s head coach from 2018 to 2021. The two coaches have drawn comparisons because they successfully call offensive plays and are seen as promising up-and-coming head coaches.

During Nagy’s tenure with the Bears, one of his more significant weaknesses was an inability to pivot, make in-game changes, or make long-term scheme adjustments to better suit the offense. The former head coach was keen on running the offensive scheme that worked for him when he was a play-caller with the Kansas City Chiefs, even if the offensive personnel was unable to execute the offense, which included quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. In back-to-back seasons, then general manager Ryan Pace had to relieve Nagy of offensive play-calling duties and hand it over to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor due to the reluctancy to make schematic changes.

For fans and analysts, Ben Johnson demonstrating an ability to know when to make adjustments is as significant as his willingness to make adjustment. The difference for Johnson when it comes to Nagy, is that the current head coach accepted the game in how it was unfolding and adapted. While the former head coach would continuously try to make his scheme work. There were several games lost due to failed ability to make necessary adjustments to counteract either struggles on offense or an opposing defense being better.

Ben Johnson is expected to lead the Bears to victory due to his extremely productive offense. Especially due to the if Caleb Williams can develop.

Unfortunately, against the Saints on Sunday, Chicago’s promising quarterback was off his game.  et Johnson knew that his running back and defense could still win the contest.

. It is a promising aspect when a head coach has the instinct to know when to make crucial adjustments in order to win a game, something that doesn’t happen with other teams.

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