Inside Ben Johnson’s Frustration With His Offensive Staff — And Why He’s Right
Ben Johnson is a perfectionist. We know this. It became crystal clear mere months into his first year as the Chicago Bears‘ head coach. This isn’t a bad thing. You’ll often find that some of the greatest coaches in NFL history were perfectionists. However, it can be a double-edged sword at times. Such relentless, high demands from the coach at all times can be exhausting for players. It is why Bill Belichick and Don Shula had high turnover on their rosters. However, it isn’t just restricted to players. Such coaches are often just as hard on their staffs.
One thing about Johnson is that he’s his own worst critic. He is the first to say he made mistakes when they happen. However, just because he is willing to take the hits in public doesn’t mean others are suddenly off the hook. The Bears head coach admitted this past week that he had lingering frustration with his offensive coaches over some of the execution last season. Namely, it was the constant inability to get primary receivers open more often, which was part of why Caleb Williams struggled to find a rhythm at times.
“I’m actually not very happy with us as an offensive staff, our ability to get the primary receiver open. I don’t think it happened at a high enough clip, and so we have to do a better job in our game-planning process. And I put a lot of that on myself of making sure that we are doing that.”
The data backs up what Ben Johnson is saying.
A good way to tell if a team is effective at consistently getting the primary read open is how often the quarterback throws to it. In this instance, you’ll find some unsurprising names leading the way. Trevor Lawrence led the way with 74.9% of his passes going to the primary read. Dak Prescott was third at 68.7%, Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow, Matthew Stafford, and Aaron Rodgers were also near the top. Williams was dead last in the NFL at 54.5%. Interestingly, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen are the four names in front of him.
| Quarterback | 2025 Team | First-Read % |
|---|---|---|
| Trevor Lawrence | Jacksonville Jaguars | 74.9% |
| Daniel Jones | Indianapolis Colts | 73.4% |
| Dak Prescott | Dallas Cowboys | 68.7% |
| Geno Smith | Las Vegas Raiders | 67.8% |
| Baker Mayfield | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 66.3% |
| Kyler Murray | Arizona Cardinals | 66.1% |
| Joe Burrow | Cincinnati Bengals | 64.8% |
| Matthew Stafford | Los Angeles Rams | 64.8% |
| Aaron Rodgers | Pittsburgh Steelers | 64.5% |
| Jayden Daniels | Washington Commanders | 64.2% |
| Jalen Hurts | Philadelphia Eagles | 64.0% |
| Brock Purdy | San Francisco 49ers | 63.0% |
| C.J. Stroud | Houston Texans | 62.7% |
| Kirk Cousins | Atlanta Falcons | 60.5% |
| Sam Darnold | Seattle Seahawks | 59.8% |
| Jared Goff | Detroit Lions | 59.2% |
| Justin Herbert | Los Angeles Chargers | 58.6% |
| Jordan Love | Green Bay Packers | 58.3% |
| Josh Allen | Buffalo Bills | 57.0% |
| Lamar Jackson | Baltimore Ravens | 56.1% |
| Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs | 55.2% |
| Caleb Williams | Chicago Bears | 54.5% |
This suggests that weakness at wide receiver contributes to the problem. Kansas City has had issues at the position ever since Tyreek Hill was traded. Baltimore has some good weapons but no true difference-makers. The same was true in Buffalo. It probably also has something to do with all of those quarterbacks being natural scramblers. If their primary read isn’t clearly open, they will hold the ball and buy some time to seek alternatives. Johnson likely feels the only way to simmer that down is by getting the primary guy open more often.
The weird thing is, this issue doesn’t seem to faze championship QBs.
Sam Darnold was right near the middle of the pack in first-read throws. Jalen Hurts was 21st in 2024. Patrick Mahomes was 25th in 2023 and 31st in 2022. The last quarterback to crack the top 10 in this metric was Matthew Stafford in 2021. That might explain why Ben Johnson is focused on the metric. He worked with Stafford for two years in Detroit, developing a deep admiration for the future Hall of Famer. Then Jared Goff stepped in and also did well throwing to the primary option.
It feels less like the Bears’ head coach is stuck on an unnecessary issue and more trying to find ways to teach Williams to stay in the pocket more often. While the scrambling ability is an unbelievable tool, long NFL careers don’t happen with such an approach. One must learn to play primarily from the pocket. Johnson likely feels that won’t happen until he and the offensive staff do a better job of freeing up the first read more often.