Two Abysmal Failures Ben Johnson's Bears Offense Must Address

Call this the dirty little secrets of the Bears offense.

One way they can get drastically better is if he learns how to use fourth-down gambles. The other way is if he has a better ability to execute those fourth-down gambles. They are strongly related but not entirely.

Johnson has an aggressive reputation that he built as a gambler but the Bears converted fourth downs only 51.7% of the time. That was 21st in the NFL.

Yet, Johnson insisted on going for it even early in games and in his own territory.

Where failure is most evident

The really disappointing fourth-down numbers for the Bears were short-yardage plays. As much as they praised their offensive line, they converted only 2-of-5 runs on fourth-and-1, according to NFLGSIS.com.

There were only three teams in the league at that 40% rate or worse.

The Bears also converted only 2-of-5 first downs on fourth-and-1 plays using passes. Only Dallas and Washington tried more fourth-and-1 passes than the Bears, and both converted at higher rates. The Lions tried passing the same number of times on fourth-and-1 plays as the Bears, and they converted four of the five (80%).

If you can't convert fourth-and-1 by running or throwing, why take so many risks?

Saying the analytics back going for it on fourth down isn’t accurate. It’s actually a lie.

Analytics wouldn’t back a team incapable of converting. Your own analytics take priority over some AI voice or chart that reflects what the league does in general.

The Bears had key fourth-down failures against the Raiders, Ravens, Giants and 49ers. Against Baltimore and San Francisco, they lost, and fourth-down failures played big roles. The other two instances were games against weak opponents the Bear managed to beat via the miracle route.

The Bears need an offensive line capable of converting in short yardage. They need play calling and play design better than what Johnson came up with in 2025 for such situations.

They could stand to use Williams more as a runner in 1-yard situations or at the goal line. He converted runs into first downs 28 times in 2025 and ran for 388 yards but only four of his first-down runs came on fourth down.

The best thing the Bears can do to supplement Johnson's desire to go for it on fourth downs is become a tush push team, with Williams or with someone else carrying the ball. 

"I like explosive plays, I like big plays," Johnson said at Halas Hall last season. "So I'm not a big tush push guy myself."

If they're going to let teams continue to run what should be an illegal play, then Johnson better learn to be a tush push guy.

The Bears offensive line received all manner of praise for improvement in 2025 but they didn’t improve enough in their ability to win on fourth-and-short plays.

Without that, Johnson's gambling is ill-advised and even reckless. He becomes a bad gambler, and that's the worst kind.