Latest news with #Ben Johnson
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Same problems from last season confront Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams
As Caleb Williams is learning the new Chicago Bears offense under new head coach Ben Johnson, there will be growing pains. However, mistakes that keep repeating themselves may not get labeled as mere growing pains. Caleb Williams was under a lot of pressure last season. He faced many obstacles throughout the season. One issue he helped perpetuate was a large number of pre-snap mistakes. Last season the Bears had 42 pre-snap penalties, behind only the Cleveland Browns (45) for the most in the NFL. One of the best examples of this was last season's end to the Bears' game versus the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, when the Bears gave that game away due to a terrible pre-snap sequence which ultimately got coach Matt Eberflus fired. Ben Johnson was hired to fix the mistakes of the last staff and get Caleb Williams on track. Johnson is being paid to coach Caleb to live up to his No. 1 NFL draft position, but this issue needs to be at the forefront of items that need to be corrected immediately in Chicago. Vincent Parise with Bears Wire gave his thoughts on this huge concern at Bears training camp, including Ben Johnson's thoughts on the matter: "Through a couple of weeks of training camp, pre-snap penalties have been an issue. That can happen when an offensive line has more new faces than returning ones. Having an inexperienced quarterback and tight end can lead to these issues, as well. That was evident during Sunday's Family Fest, where quarterback Caleb Williams committed three delay of game penalties during the two-hour practice. Following practice, Johnson addressed the delay of game penalties and is adamant that they need to work on correcting it. "'Yeah, it's something that we're going to have to address, for sure,' Johnson said. 'It showed up more today than it has in practice. This was more like a real game, and if it continues like that, we're not going to win many games.' It will be incredibly difficult for Williams to run the offense smoothly if he is unable to get in a rhythm. Nothing takes them out of that rhythm if they can't avoid taking penalties. We've seen it in the past with previous Bears' regimes." This offense has an extreme amount of weapons, great creativity, and a quarterback with immense potential, but mistakes such as this could get in the way of this offense having any success. That and a lot of other factors stopped the Bears' offense last season. Ben Johnson comes into this job with ample NFL credibility. He knows how to cultivate a high-caliber offense. Yet, it will take time, especially given that the Bears have a lot of moving parts. This is an issue to be concerned about right now, and if it continues into the regular season, the Bears will remain stuck as a franchise. This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC's Caleb Williams needs to cleanup pre-snap process with Bears
Yahoo
03-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bears QB Caleb Williams must embrace check-down plays in 2025
The Chicago Bears had one of the worst offenses in the NFL during the 2024 season. After a 4-2 start, they imploded, which led to a 10-game losing streak and an eventual 5-12 record. To say it was a disaster would be an understatement. One thing that should help is offensive line improvement, which will see at least three (perhaps four) new starters in 2025. Yes, new head coach Ben Johnson will be a factor as well, but quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked way too many times last season -- a league-leading 68 sacks. Not all of that blame, however, can be placed on the offensive line. Some of it has to fall at the feet of Williams, who made plenty of bad decisions that led to his being sacked. Williams must not hang on to the ball for too long. He has to learn how to utilize his check-downs more often. He only checked the ball down on 7.1 percent of his attempts, which is ridiculous considering the number of times he was sacked. His downfield accuracy wasn't nearly as strong as his short pass accuracy, which is to be expected from a young player at the position. Instead of hanging onto the ball for too long and trying to be the hero, sometimes Williams just needs to get the ball out to someone closer. With a better understanding of NFL defenses after a season, with Johnson as the head coach, and an improved offensive line, Williams should have more time in the pocket. That will allow him to execute his playbook better, but it will also give him the ability to work on his check-downs when errors do occur. When Williams isn't running for his life on every other play, he can make himself a smarter player. While he didn't check down a lot, Williams was the ninth-most efficient quarterback in the NFL in that situation. The guy in first place? Jared Goff, who played in Johnson's offense. When you think of superstars at the position, like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Matthew Stafford, you can see guys who aren't the hero on every play, despite how talented they may be. Any of those guys will make the wise choice when presented with the opportunity, which will allow them to be a hero at a different (better) stage of the game. Simply improving the short passing game isn't going to be the main point of the offense, but it is something that Williams must improve with so he can keep the chains moving at a steady pace. If the Bears score more points, they will win more games. If they win more games, they may make the playoffs. This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears QB Caleb Williams must embrace check-down plays in 2025
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Training camp kickoff with NFC North key storylines and team previews
Football is back! On this training camp edition of '1st & North,' we preview the NFC North teams: the Lions face a year of reckoning with some debating OC John Morton is a key X-factor, while Bears' Ben Johnson aims to build dynasties. The Packers see Jordan Love drop in NFL Top 100 rankings and invest big in Zach Tom, with a player calling a Bears win "lucky." We also provide a legal update on Vikings WR Jordan Addison and analyze NFC North roster rankings.
