It’s time for our weekly discussion with the enemy. This week the Cowboys battle the Chicago Bears, so we had some questions for our sister site, Windy City Gridiron.
Blogging The Boys: How is life under Ben Johnson? What’s different and how has the team adapted to his style and schemes?
Windy City Gridiron: Despite the 0-2 start, I think the confidence in Ben Johnson is still really high. Fans (and the media) love his press conferences. He’s no nonsense, he’s setting a high bar for everyone (including himself), and he’s refreshingly honest. His quotes this week about how the Bears players aren’t practicing at a championship level yet is the type of stuff fans are eating up because we all know what a mess this team has been for years. The Bears need a full culture change, and Johnson is approaching this much like Dan Campbell did in Detroit. What we don’t know yet is if this season is the 2021 Lions that won 3 games under Campbell, or the 2022 Lions that started 1-6 and came together and finished 9-8.
As for his schemes, the offense has looked great to start each game, scoring a touchdown on the scripted opening drive in each game, but once we get into the body of the game, the offense starts looking disjointed. You can see what it’s supposed to look like, but mistakes and execution are still holding this offense back from stacking plays and sustaining drives.
BTB: Give us your read on Caleb Williams and his development up to this point?
WCG: This is honestly a hard question to answer. Last season was a complete dumpster fire around him. He had two different head coaches and three different offensive coordinators. Despite that, his final statistics were solid, but his advanced analytics showed a different story of a quarterback that was towards the bottom of the league in multiple categories. If we’re being honest, I was actually pretty impressed with what Caleb was able to accomplish with the instability around him.
The first game with Ben Johnson was disappointing. Williams looked pretty good on the opening drive against Minnesota, but looked very erratic after that. His accuracy was terrible, he looked frantic in the pocket, and he was missing opening receivers. Week two looked better, but the game completely unraveled in the third quarter. Williams looked better in the pocket, his accuracy was better, and the all-22 shows better decision-making. It’s certainly not where you want his development to be at this point, but it does seem to be headed in the right direction. Let’s see what it looks like when the calendar hits November after Caleb has had a good number of games with Ben Johnson.
BTB: What is the Bears’ strength at this point? Their weakness?
WCG: Well, the weakness is easy: the entire defense. Specifically, the defense cannot generate a pass rush. Jared Goff was able to dissect the Bears’ defense easily because he had plenty of time to do it. The lack of a pass rush, combined with the fact that, in the secondary, Jaylon Johnson is reportedly out for the year, Kyler Gordon is yet to play, and Tyrique Stevenson is literally the worst coverage cornerback in the NFL so far this season (he’s giving up a perfect passer rating against), allowed JJ McCarthy to shred them in the fourth quarter in week one, and Jared Goff had his way with them as well.
Strength is a little hard to come up with when you’ve lost two games like the Bears have, but I will say the Bears’ passing game. Watching the coach tape, you can see Ben Johnson’s offensive scheme in action, receivers are getting open, Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze are developing chemistry, and I think it’s close to clicking. Will it click against Dallas? I’m not certain, but based on how the Dallas defense has been operating, there’s a chance it could happen this Sunday.
BTB: Are they a 0-2 team, or are they better than their record? Do you anticipate a turnaround?
WCG: I do think the Bears are better than their record, but I have certainly adjusted my expectations down for the season. I think the defense will settle down and get better. It may not happen this week, especially if Kyler Gordon misses another game, but if the defense can get a little healthier, it does feel like they can at least become an average or below-average defense eventually. But right now, they are certainly vulnerable there. On the other side of the ball, I think Johnson’s offense clicks eventually; it’s just hard to tell when that’s going to be. This is certainly a work-in-progress.
Do I expect a turnaround? Yes, because right now they are playing like a bottom-five team in the league. I don’t think that’s what they will be this year, but in August, I thought they would finish with a winning record with a chance at the playoffs. But now, I feel like they are probably going to finish around 7 wins and hopefully be poised for a better season in 2026.
BTB: What’s your take on how the game will play out, and what is your prediction?
WCG: I don’t know how this game isn’t high scoring. I know the Bears’ offense hasn’t been cohesive, but Ben Johnson should be able to scheme circles around Matt Eberflus and with the Dallas defense the way it’s playing, I think the Bears score some points. However, Dallas will have even more success against the Bears’ defense because they are playing like the worst defense in the league. Let these stats sink in: over the last 5 quarters, the Bears’ defense has given up 73 points and 694 yards of offense.
This one is high scoring, and I think Dallas wins it. I’ll say Cowboys 31, Bears 27.
Thanks for the knowledge, Windy City Gridiron.
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