68 days until Bears 2025 season: What trick plays will Ben Johnson want to run?

In their Week 16 dismantling of the Chicago Bears last season, the Detroit Lions felt it necessary to kick the Bears while they were down by running an incredible trick play late in the game. Jared Goff pretended to stumble after taking a snap, prompting Chicago's defenders to lose focus for just a moment as they anticipated a sack or a fumble opportunity. Instead, Goff steadied his feet and threw a dart to a wide open Sam LaPorta to seal the win.

Called the 'stumble bum', this trick play was conceived by Detroit's former offensive coordinator and current head coach of the Bears, Ben Johnson. He had seen Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love actually stumble but recover in time to throw a touchdown pass earlier in the season, and that proved to be a spark of inspiration to the offensive guru.

Will we see Chicago's Caleb Williams attempt the stumble bum play in 2025? That's difficult to say. While Ben Johnson will bring many concepts that worked in Detroit over to Chicago, he has confirmed that he's going to make some changes. On top of that, it's hard to replicate trick plays, especially one as outlandish as a fake stumble, though Williams certainly has the arm talent to pull it off.

One trick play that might make its way from Detroit to Chicago is the offensive tackle pass. In their first meeting against the Bears on Thanksgiving Day, Ben Johnson dialed up a play that looked like a typical jet sweep until the ball was handed to offensive tackle Penei Sewell, who appeared to be attempting a pass. It didn't work and the Lions lost yardage, but the play still has potential.

In fact, given a pass-catching drill that Chicago's offensive linemen were seen running in last month's minicamp, it feels safe to say that Johnson wants to get his big fellas involved as much as possible.