The Chicago Bears wasted no time in finding their next play-caller. After a tumultuous start to the season, a mismanaged 23-20 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Detroit Lions resulted in the firing of the then-head coach Matt Eberflus.
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In hoping to find someone who can develop their franchise QB, Caleb Williams, the Bears announced that former offensive coordinator for the Lions, Ben Johnson, will be their next head coach. After steadily improving the performance of Jared Goff, in addition to the overall standing of the Lions offense, it was only a matter of time before other franchises came calling.
NFL legend, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, in one of the latest segments of Nightcap, stated that he loved the hiring for both the Bears’ front office and for Williams. “Ben Johnson has worked wonders with Jared Goff and the Lions offense,” Ocho explained.
Citing Johnson’s “creativity” as the source of Dan Campbell’s confidence to going for it on fourth downs, the former WR asserted that the union between Johnson and Chicago will be a “perfect relationship.”
“Now you go to another supporting cast in Chicago that has different skill sets, but it will get the job done very well. You have a great QB, a dual threat QB, who’s a little bit more mobile, a little bit more agile, can play off script a little better than Goff,” Ocho outlined on the show.
When Johnson first took over play calling duties for the Lions, Detroit ranked fourth overall in offensive yards per game and fifth overall in points per game. As of this season, the Lions produced the second most offensive yards in the league and scored more points on offense than any other unit in the NFL. The Lions have also ranked second overall in passing yards in each of the last two seasons.
In his first full season as a starter for the Los Angeles Rams, Goff posted 3,804 passing yards and 28 passing touchdowns while completing 621% of his 477 pass attempts. Likewise, Williams managed 3,541 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns while completing 62.5% of his 562 passing attempts.
In 2017, Goff was averaging 12.9 yards per pass completion while Williams, despite having a revamped WR core, only averaged 10.1 yards per pass completion.
The impact that Johnson has had on Goff’s career is now on full display, however, as the nine-year veteran just turned in his third consecutive 4,000+ passing yards season. Goff finished the 2024 regular season with 4,629 passing yards, with his 37 passing touchdowns and 72.4% completion percentage both setting new career highs for him in their respective categories.
In 2021, a year prior to Johnson’s arrival, Goff finished the season with a QBR of 45.5. Since then, his lowest regular season total QBR has been no lower than 60.3. Goff’s QBR of 68.4 this season was also a career best for him.
Given the track record of Johnson, “Ochocinco” may indeed be right, meaning that there is indeed a bright future ahead for the Bears’ offense as Williams looks to avoid a sophomore slump next season.
