The Chicago Bears didn’t display much of their starting offense in their preseason Week 2 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. Chicago’s starters played only a single series that spanned eight plays and ended with a 33-yard field goal. While a scoring drive is a positive, the team was hoping for more than a field goal. They nearly punched it into the end zone; however, Caleb Williams missed a 27-yard seam throw to Colston Loveland.
After the game, Johnson criticized Williams’ decision to shoot for the long ball to Loveland instead of targeting the wide-open receiver Kaden Davis underneath.
Johnson then offered a more in-depth answer to his criticism about the play on Tuesday at Halas Hall.
“I think it boils down to whenever it becomes third-and-20, you look back and say, ‘How could we not have been in that situation?’”, Johnson clarified.
Ben Johnson Wants Caleb Williams To Tone Down ‘Aggressiveness’ On Certain Plays
GettyChicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams tossed 13 touchdown passes on 20 plus air yard throws, tying for the league lead in 2025.
One of Williams’ biggest weaknesses in 2025 was his completion percentage; his 58.1 completion rate was 34th best in the league. So when Williams went two for five on the opening drive, many people interpreted Johnson’s comments as a reflection of his accuracy when it was about the situational choice.
“When it’s first-and-20, he takes alerts; we call some of our receivers alerts. Colston was an alert on that play; he’s right: if he hits it, if he doesn’t, there’s other places we can go with the football. He understands that thought process. He’s just like me; we don’t want to be caught in those third-and-20 situations, so first-and-20, we might take the aggressiveness level down a notch and make sure we keep getting back on track.”
Johnson is challenging Williams to be smarter in the moment. Take the easy completion, move closer to the first down, give yourself a better chance to extend the drive.
However, while this sounds like a smart approach, Sports Illustrated writer Gene Chamberlain warns that this may be playing with fire.
Bears Need To Help Williams Balance His Superman Persona
“While the Bears do want to see his completion percentage increase, they can’t possibly want to see this happen at the cost of wiping out what was special about him. And that was the big play,” Chamberlain writes.
“You don’t get the big play without taking a shot or practicing big shots when they’re available.”
ESPN analyst and former quarterback Dan Orlovsky shared a story on First Take regarding a similar situation he experienced with Matthew Stafford.
He has a big arm and he runs great, but he’s not accurate or smart, & those are really important too. You need 3 of the 4 to be a star.
“We’re watching tape; he tries to make this throw on a corner route,” Orlovsky shared.
“And I’m sitting there watching it with him, and I’m pointing to this guy that’s wide open…And I’m like, ‘Why don’t you throw this throw?’ And he [Matthew Stafford] looks at me and goes, because I can and you can’t.”
Orlovsky drives his point home with, “These players and quarterbacks that are so differently talented, it’s so hard to get them to make the boring throw that we can. ‘Why don’t you make that throw?’ Because anybody can make that throw. You didn’t take me number one to make that throw.”
Williams has previously discussed the importance of managing the balance for when he needs to turn into Superman on the field. It’s still a work in progress, but Johnson is helping him walk that fine line between his Clark Kent persona. He just needs to make sure he doesn’t poison his approach with Kryptonite in an effort to balance the two halves.
Bears Ben Johnson Warned About ‘Wiping Out’ What Makes Caleb Williams Special