LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears offensive guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson both mentioned the number 40 — specifically, the Lions’ ability to put up 40 points in Ben Johnson’s offense.
“You’ve seen the offenses he’s had, and like I said earlier, the 40-plus point capabilities it brings to the table,” said Jackson, who played for Detroit from 2020 to 2023. “He’s a winner. That’s what he wants to do.”
Thuney played with Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. It probably takes a lot for an offense to impress him.
“Watching Detroit’s offense over the years, every week it’s 30, 40 points with really great, creative plays,” he said. “It’s just an offense you wanna be a part of.”
As the new offensive linemen walked into Halas Hall for the first time, they might not know how rare it is around these parts for the home team to score 40.
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The Lions scored at least 40 points 12 times with Johnson as the play caller from 2022 to 2024. In that span, the Bears scored 40 points … once. If you’re counting 40-point games from the Bears, you have to go back to 2009 to get to 12.
Want to go down to a threshold of 30 points, which Thuney mentioned? Well, the Lions did that 27 times in three seasons of Johnson calling plays. In those three seasons, the Bears scored 30 points eight times.
“Ben is one of a kind,” Jackson said. “I said this about a former quarterback, but he’s like a wizard. You can’t time up his play calls. You don’t know what he’s going to call next. It could be third-and-10, and we’re running down the ‘A’ gap and going for a touch. So, he’s a special, special person.”
Jackson started all 16 games as a rookie for the Lions in 2020 when Johnson was the tight ends coach. The next year, with Johnson as passing-game coordinator, Jackson went to the Pro Bowl.
When the Rams traded Jackson, he couldn’t choose his destination, but it worked out that he could be reunited with Johnson.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “I had a great relationship with Ben. He was with me when I was a young pup my rookie year, and what he brings to the table is awesome. I couldn’t be more excited.”
Players can’t always tell if their assistant coaches will be head coaches one day, but Jackson isn’t surprised to see Johnson in this spot.
“Definitely, I mean, he commanded the offense,” he said. “It was his offense. I think he’ll be a great head coach here.”
Grady Jarrett chose his new destination quickly after the Falcons cut him. He didn’t go into details about other offers he considered, but he sure seemed at home at Halas Hall. As a defender, he faced Johnson’s offense in 2023, when the Lions beat the Falcons 20-6.
GO DEEPER
Bears newcomer Grady Jarrett bringing energy to Halas Hall: ‘I’m just so fired up’
“Oh man, yeah, it was tough. Tough. I was talking to Coach earlier, and I was telling him, like, some of these plays you draw up, I don’t even know how you think about them. You know what I’m saying?” Jarrett said. “And so it’s cool, and playing that line that they had up there, they are definitely physical, and I respect those guys a lot.”
Jarrett added: “I know what the Lions were about, especially the past two years they’ve been doing really well, and to have coach Johnson from there, I mean, as you guys can see, you talked to him, he’s intense, man. He wants to win bad, and I’m happy to be able to play for him. And I’m just fired up.”
Jarrett said he already told Johnson to expect some trash talk on the practice field.
“I’ll go right back with him. So it’s going to be competitive,” he said. “There’s some new energy, new vibes in the building, and we want it all.”
Center Drew Dalman also had his choice of places to play, as the best center on the free-agent market. For all players, money plays a significant role, but he was also attracted to Johnson and the offense.
“I think the strengths in my game — when I watch the little bit of Detroit film that I have watched — I think they’ll be emphasized,” he said. “And that’s what I want to do most, is add value to this team. And so if I’m doing the things that I really thrive doing, I think that’ll be best for the team.”
General manager Ryan Poles said the prospect of playing for Johnson was a benefit to convincing free agents to play for Chicago.
“There’s a lot of excitement working with Ben,” he said. “Seeing the body of work that he had in Detroit and seeing that grow to what it became is exciting. You want to be a part of exciting football. You want to be a part of scoring a lot of points. You want to be a part of creativity and doing things a little bit different. That’s fun. That’s fun to work in that environment. Obviously, like you said, there’s going to be some of those foundational things you got to put together that are tough, but what this can be is really exciting, and a lot of people want to be a part of that.”
We’ve done this before. Defensive free agents lauded Matt Eberflus’ philosophies. Offensive free agents said they were attracted to Matt Nagy’s plan of attack. What makes this different? Well, Johnson. If skeptics believe that he’s different — that he isn’t like former coordinators the Bears have hired because he came highly-coveted and he did call plays — then they can feel more comfortable about players wanting to join his team.
The expectations, the message and the vision with Johnson at the helm have come across to the new Bears, and next month when the full team returns to Halas Hall, they’ll learn it, too.
“I asked what the vision for the team was, and from top to bottom, everybody has expressed that same thing. The goal is to bring a Lombardi to this city,” defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo said. “That was big for me. You know I want to have a meaningful career. I want to leave a legacy in the NFL. I don’t want to just collect checks. I want to be a part of a winning culture and a winning organization.”
That hasn’t been the Bears in a long time, but they believe — and the newcomers agree — that Johnson can get them there.
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
