Bears’ Ben Johnson earns ringing endorsement from Caleb Williams after improbable run

Caleb Williams is all in on the Ben Johnson experience despite a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs.

Williams, who spent his rookie season on a dysfunctional 5-12 team that fired its head coach and offensive coordinator midseason, had high praise for Johnson after his first season leading the Bears.

“He’s been the catalyst for us…to be able to lead us, to be able to stand strong…He’s been everything Chicago has needed as a coach,” Williams said of what Johnson has meant to him, according to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.

The No. 1 overall draft pick in 2024, Williams had understandable concerns about being selected by the Bears, who had never had a 4,000-yard passer and had managed only one winning season over the previous decade. His concerns were only validated when the team lost 10 straight after a 4-2 start, which cost head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron their jobs in November.

Fortunately for Williams, a former Heisman Trophy winner, Chicago hired Johnson, the highly touted Detroit Lions offensive coordinator who successfully tutored polarizing quarterback Jared Goff, to be its next head coach. The result was a complete turnaround for the Bears, who went 11-6 and won the NFC North for the first time since 2018. Additionally, Williams set the franchise’s single-season passing yards record with 3,942, while also improving his touchdown total to 30 (27 passing and three rushing) and only throwing seven interceptions after a 20-touchdown, 6-interception rookie season.

Not only did Williams improve under Johnson, but so did the entire Bears offense; in 2025, the team averaged 25.9 points per game, good enough for ninth in the NFL and a major leap from 2024, when they scored 18.2 points per game and ranked fifth-worst in the league.

Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t do enough in last night’s 20-17 overtime loss against the Rams’ top-10 defense. Williams completed just over half of his passes and threw three interceptions, the final of which was in OT and set up the Harrison Mevis game-winning field goal. On top of that, the Bears were stopped on fourth down three Sunday, including at the two-yard line with 3:06 left in regulation.

Despite the sour end, though, the Bears’ 2025 season has to be considered a success; it marked the franchise’s first playoff win since 2010, and Johnson became the first Bears head coach to win a playoff game in his first season. The coaching pair of Hunk Anderson and Luke Johnsos won an NFL Championship, the only postseason game, in 1943 during their first full year, but they had coached Chicago for the final six games of 1942 after George Halas resigned to join the United States Navy during World War II.

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