{"id":416901,"date":"2025-08-25T10:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T15:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/?p=416901"},"modified":"2025-08-25T10:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T15:38:10","slug":"ben-johnsons-approach-has-the-chicago-bears-fans-feeling-optimistic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/ben-johnsons-approach-has-the-chicago-bears-fans-feeling-optimistic\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Johnson&#8217;s Approach Has the Chicago Bears Fans Feeling Optimistic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ben Johnson is doing things differently, and frankly, it&#8217;s refreshing to hear a Bears coach talk with this much clarity about what he&#8217;s trying to accomplish. After years of watching this team stumble through preseasons without much direction, Johnson&#8217;s approach to these exhibition games actually makes sense.<\/p>\n<h2>What Johnson Gets Right<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Using Preseason the Right Way:<\/strong> Johnson isn&#8217;t treating these games like glorified scrimmages. He&#8217;s actually evaluating guys and figuring out what he has to work with. Novel concept for Bears coaches, right?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Competition Everywhere:<\/strong> Finally, a coach who understands that making guys fight for spots brings out the best in everyone. No more handing jobs to veterans just because they&#8217;ve been around forever.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fixing the Offense:<\/strong> This might be the biggest thing. Johnson has made it clear that getting the offense right is job one, and he&#8217;s using every preseason snap to figure out what works.<\/p>\n<h2>The Preseason Philosophy That Actually Works<\/h2>\n<p>After watching the Chiefs game, Johnson broke down exactly what he was looking for &#8211; and it wasn&#8217;t just &#8220;staying healthy.&#8221; He&#8217;s using these games to put guys in real situations and see who steps up.<\/p>\n<p>For Bears fans who&#8217;ve watched too many preseasons where nothing seemed to matter and nobody learned anything, this is a breath of fresh air. Johnson&#8217;s treating these games like they actually serve a purpose beyond just getting through them.<\/p>\n<h2>Competition Is King<\/h2>\n<p>Johnson keeps hammering home that nobody&#8217;s job is safe, and honestly, that&#8217;s exactly what this roster needs. For too long, Bears players knew they could coast through practice and still keep their spots.<\/p>\n<p>Now guys are actually fighting for playing time, which should mean the best players see the field. Crazy idea, but it might just work.<\/p>\n<h2>The Offensive Focus We&#8217;ve Been Waiting For<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s be real &#8211; Bears fans have watched some truly painful offenses over the years. Johnson&#8217;s commitment to actually developing offensive schemes and working on execution feels like he gets what this team has been missing.<\/p>\n<p>Using preseason to test different concepts and see what clicks with the personnel? That&#8217;s smart coaching. Making adjustments based on what he sees rather than just running the same tired plays? Even better.<\/p>\n<h2>Why This Feels Different<\/h2>\n<p>Maybe it&#8217;s just hope talking, but Johnson sounds like he knows what he&#8217;s doing. He&#8217;s not giving the usual coach-speak answers &#8211; he&#8217;s explaining his actual thought process and what he&#8217;s trying to build.<\/p>\n<p>For Bears fans who&#8217;ve been burned before, it&#8217;s hard not to get a little excited about a coach who seems to have a real plan. Time will tell if it works, but at least we&#8217;re not going into another season wondering what the heck the coaching staff is thinking.<\/p>\n<p>Finally feels like we might have found the right guy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Image Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:BenJohnson2025.jpg\">https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:BenJohnson2025.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ben Johnson is doing things differently, and frankly, it&#8217;s refreshing to hear a Bears coach talk with this much clarity about what he&#8217;s trying to accomplish. After years&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2279,"featured_media":416902,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16757],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-416901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.4 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ben Johnson&#039;s Approach Has the Chicago Bears Fans Feeling Optimistic | UrbanMatter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/ben-johnsons-approach-has-the-chicago-bears-fans-feeling-optimistic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ben Johnson&#039;s Approach Has the Chicago Bears Fans Feeling Optimistic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ben Johnson is doing things differently, and frankly, it&#8217;s refreshing to hear a Bears coach talk with this much clarity about what he&#8217;s trying to accomplish. 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