The Chicago Bears burst out onto the scene in Ben Johnson’s first season as head coach. In 2024, the Bears managed just five wins. Last year, Johnson and Caleb Williams led Chicago to an 11-win season, which included a trip to the Divisional Round Playoffs.
Yet, in the NFL, there’s nothing guaranteed from season to season. Everyone starts over from scratch. Even though coach Johnson is headed into just his second year as head coach, he knows his team has to prove itself all over again.
Ben Johnson Addresses Hype Surrounding Bears in 2026
Last year, the Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018. Now that they have the targets on their backs, repeating as division champions won’t be easy.
Yet, others have foreshadowed the Bears potentially taking a step back in 2026, and Johnson has heard all the skeptics.
On Friday, Johnson addressed the Chicago media after Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen pointed out how the media, like NFL.com, will promote Williams every chance they get. In Johnson’s mind, stuff like that doesn’t provide further motivation, because the Bears’ QB is used to the attention as a former No. 1 overall pick.
“Well, we’re the No. 1 regression candidate, so I think we’ve got plenty of motivation ourselves,” Johnson said. “We’ve talked about Caleb in the past. He’s used to handling a lot of attention, so I’m not worried about that.”
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While it did look like the NFL was slowing down for Williams in his second season, now the 24-year-old is staring down the barrel at season three. Last year, he led the NFL with six fourth-quarter comebacks.
#Bears HC Ben Johnson responds to Liam Coen name-dropping Caleb Williams:
“Well, we’re the No. 1 regression candidate, so I think we’ve got plenty of motivation ourselves. We’ve talked about Caleb in the past. He’s used to handling a lot of attention, so I’m not worried about… https://t.co/aILELUpdht pic.twitter.com/pHPVov1VrB
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 31, 2026
Repeating that type of success in the clutch won’t be easy, even for the ‘Iceman’. Yet, if the Bears can build a lead before the fourth quarter arrives, they could make things easier on their young quarterback.
Meanwhile, Williams ranked 20th among QBs in the league last season with an impact score of 74.9 on PFN’s QB Impact Metric. So there’s definitely room for growth; now it’s just about tapping into that potential.
The other truth is that coaches now have had a chance to really dive into the film from Williams’ first season under coach Johnson. They’ll be better prepared for what the Bears are scheming up this time around, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be able to stop it.
