The Chicago Bears have spent years searching for steady footing in a league that rarely waits. Their roster has turned over, their quarterback room has stayed unsettled, and their offense has often looked like a work still in progress.
Fans in the city have grown used to flashes of talent that never quite lock into a full season of control.
That pattern looked familiar again this fall when injuries forced changes under center. Caleb Williams, the young passer the franchise drafted to carry the load, sat out a second straight game with a right hamstring injury. In his place, the Bears kept the ball moving and held the field for long stretches, even with a backup handling the snaps.
Sunday’s meeting with the New York Jets offered the clearest picture yet. Chicago piled up 492 total yards, converted seven of 15 third downs and held the ball for 42 minutes and 45 seconds in a 23-12 win. The Jets managed just 157 yards and seven first downs.
The result left the Bears at 3-1, with three wins already coming behind three different starting quarterbacks.
On Monday, Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd said the recent stretch had clarified who matters most in Chicago.
“We’ve discovered in the last 2 weeks – as gifted as Caleb Williams is – the centerpiece of the Bears is Ben Johnson,” Cowherd said on “The Herd.”
He argued that Johnson, in his second season as head coach, has built an offense that travels with whoever is taking the snaps. The system has produced strong ground gains and clean protection even when the name on the depth chart changes.
Cowherd pointed to the Jets game as fresh evidence. With Williams out, the Bears still controlled tempo and limited New York’s chances. A seventh-round running back helped carry the load, and the line kept the pocket steady.
He said the same approach had already shown up earlier in the year.
“He’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.
Cowherd added that he was not trying to diminish the quarterback the Bears drafted to lead them.
“I’m in no way marginalizing Caleb Williams,” he said.
Instead, he framed Johnson as the person setting the standard for how the group plays.
“It is a quarterback-first league, but the guy who builds the culture is the coach,” Cowherd said.
He compared the situation to other clubs led by offensive coaches who have stayed the constant while quarterbacks came and went. The Rams reached a Super Bowl with Jared Goff and another with Matthew Stafford, and Cowherd said the centerpiece there remains Sean McVay.
He made a similar point about San Francisco. Kyle Shanahan got Jimmy Garoppolo to a Super Bowl, and Cowherd said Shanahan is the centerpiece of the 49ers.
Cowherd also mentioned Jacksonville’s Liam Coen, who left Tampa Bay and has helped elevate Trevor Lawrence. He said a small group of offensive coaches is pulling away from the rest of the league.
Johnson drew heavy interest around the league before Chicago hired him, and Cowherd said that interest was not an accident. Teams looking for the next version of McVay or Shanahan kept circling the same name.
The Bears still have a long season ahead, and Williams’ hamstring will shape how soon he returns. For now, Cowherd said the last two weeks have made the case that the coach, not any single passer, is holding the operation together.
