Is Ben Johnson Bears’ Most Important Piece? Why Last 2 Games Suggest He Might Be

The Chicago Bears are 3-1 and have won three games this season with three different starting quarterbacks. With that, Colin Cowherd believes Sunday’s performance is the latest piece of evidence of who matters most in Chicago: Head coach Ben Johnson.

“It is a quarterback-first league, but the guy who builds the culture is the coach,” Cowherd said on Monday’s “The Herd.” “I think we’ve discovered in the last two weeks, as gifted as Caleb Williams is, the centerpiece of the Bears is Ben Johnson.”

With quarterback Caleb Williams sidelined for a second straight game with a right hamstring injury, the Bears won against the New York Jets 23-12. Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, who threw for 268 yards, and second-year running back Kyle Monangai, who carried a career-high 30 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns, led the way in the victory.

“Yesterday, a backup running back, a seventh-round running back, with a backup quarterback. Once again, it’s 400-plus yards. I mean, they had more first downs than the Jets had plays,” Cowherd said. “So don’t look at the 23-12 score. This could have been 50-12. It was not competitive.”

New York finished with just 157 yards and seven first downs and went 0-for-7 on third down. Cowherd pointed to the time of possession, with the Bears holding the ball for nearly 43 minutes, calling it, “like a lopsided college time of possession differential.” 

The Bears finished with 492 yards of offense and 232 rushing yards against the Jets. They set a franchise record with 34 first downs and did not record a punt in a game for the first time since 2014.

Cowherd also pointed to the Bears’ commitment to the run under Johnson.

“It is the fifth time since Ben Johnson, the Ben Johnson era, the fifth time they have had over 220 rushing yards. This is not the 80s. This is not the 90s. That is a ton of rushing yards today.”

Chicago won on Monday night in Week 3, 27-7 over the Eagles, with 38-year-old Case Keenum at quarterback. Keenum threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns in that game. Cowherd credited Johnson’s system, rather than any single player, for the Bears’ 3-1 start.

“[Johnson]’s done it with an old quarterback who we thought was retired, Case Keenum, who was 11-for-11 against the blitz. He’s done it with a backup in Bagent. He’s done it with Caleb Williams stylistically. It just doesn’t matter,” Cowherd said. “I’m in no way marginalizing Caleb Williams.”

Cowherd went on to compare Johnson to other offensive minds he believes define their franchises across the league.

“The centerpiece of this franchise, and I’ve said it with the Rams — got to a Super Bowl with [Jared] Goff, got to a Super Bowl with [Matthew] Stafford. The centerpiece is McVay,” Cowherd said. “Kyle Shanahan got [Jimmy] Garoppolo to a Super Bowl. Kyle Shanahan is the centerpiece of the 49ers.

“I think Liam Coen does a great job. He has shown that leaving Tampa, their circle in the drain, goes to Jacksonville and elevates Trevor Lawrence. There are these offensive coaches that I think are just separating themselves from all other coaches in the league.”