Imagine the Chicago Bears’ offense as a ’67 Mustang parked in a dusty garage—raw power under the hood but sputtering on the highway. And now you have Ben Johnson, the mechanic-turned-driver, tasked with tuning this beast. Fresh off reviving Detroit’s engine, Johnson isn’t here to change the paint job. He’s rebuilding the transmission, bolt by bolt, with quarterback Caleb Williams as his co-pilot.

Johnson dropped hints like breadcrumbs at Tuesday’s NFL owners’ meetings in Palm Beach. “You need to be able to see the game as a play-caller through the lens of the quarterback and vice versa,” he said, channeling the strategic clarity of Bill Walsh’s West Coast offense.

“He needs to see [the game] through the [eyes of the] play caller as well: Why are we calling certain plays? What is the intent of the play? For me, everything that I do really is to try to set it up within how he sees the game,” Johnson added.

For Williams, that means unlearning old habits. “You go back to the basics,” Johnson said. “It’s the fundamentals of the quarterback position: What’s our footwork going to look like under center? From the shotgun? What are we calling the formations? What’s the defensive identification going to look like? So that we’re all speaking the same language.”

Think footwork drills under center—a shift for a QB who operated 70.8% from shotgun as a rookie. Johnson’s playbook?

It’s all about Expected Points Added (EPA). “Whatever team has the higher passing game EPA at the end of the game, they generally win that game over 80% of the time,” he stated, citing analytics that dethrone turnover margin as king. Hence, efficiency trumps hero ball. Last year, Chicago ranked 22nd in EPA per pass. Detroit? Second. The fix? Simplify reads, scheme quicker throws, and—critically—keep Williams upright after a league-high 68 sacks.

“It takes a village,” Johnson stressed, nodding to new linemen Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. But the real project is Williams. The QB’s 3.03-second release (per PFF) must quicken. “We can move the pocket a little bit more. There’s a lot of things that we have at our disposal that can help with that process,” Johnson said.

Think Montana-to-Rice timing, not sandlot scrambles. And while Williams adapts, left tackle Braxton Jones faces his own grind.

Braxton Jones: Anchoring the blindside for Johnson

Limited in camp post-ankle surgery, Jones must bulk up to anchor better, per Ben Johnson. “So I think he has the feet to get that done. We’re going to challenge him to maybe gain a little more weight so that he can anchor a little bit better in pass pro.,” he said. The 2022 fifth-rounder has started 40 games but allowed 16 pressures in 12 games last year. Rookie Kiran Amegadjie lurks, but Johnson sees potential…

“Everything I’ve seen so far has shown a phenomenal athlete out there on the edge that we feel like we can work with,” Johnson added. Safety Jaquan Brisker’s health also looms. Cleared after a 12-game concussion absence, his aggressive style needs polish. “Bad eyes” in coverage, Johnson noted, but “a heck of a football player.”

For a defense craving stability, Brisker’s growth is pivotal.

Johnson’s vision blends old-school grit and new-age math. More under-center play-action—a staple in Detroit’s top-ranked EPA offense—aims to freeze linebackers for deep shots. “Whether that works for us in Chicago time will tell but there’s a lot of ways to skin a cat,” he admitted.

But for Williams, the mandate is clear: Think less, react faster.

As July camp nears, Chicago’s faith hinges on this partnership. Ben Johnson, the schemer, and Williams, the talent, chasing EPA glory. Or as Friday Night Lights’ Coach Taylor might say, “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”

For the Bears, clarity starts now.