Two games into the Ben Johnson era, Colin Cowherd is ready to call it quits on the most hyped coach-quarterback pairing of the offseason. The Fox Sports host who flip-flopped on whether Williams wanted Chicago in the first place has now settled on his verdict about the Johnson-Williams marriage.
And while early returns suggest he might not be entirely wrong, it’s still early.
“The further this quarterback gets away from the play script, the worse he is,” Cowherd said after two weeks of watching the experiment unfold. “He’s like a studio magician having to go live, or a stand-up comedian who’s totally reliant on joke writers. His style in this league is not a timing style. And this coach craves it.”
The numbers — at least from Week 1 — tell the story Cowherd and everyone else have seen thus far. Williams looked brilliant on Johnson’s scripted opening drive, going 6-for-6 with a 102 passer rating. The rest of the game, the USC product completed 50 percent of his passes with a rating in the 70s
“I don’t think this marriage is going to work,” Cowherd continued. “I think Caleb may work somewhere, but this head coach did not draft this quarterback. So, how loyal is he going to be?”
Johnson built his reputation in Detroit on precision timing and structured concepts that made Jared Goff look like an All-Pro. He demands quarterbacks who can “anticipate” throws and see “stuff before it’s wide open.” Williams, according to Cowherd, “doesn’t” do either consistently enough.
After completing 13 of 16 passes in the first half against Minnesota, Williams’ accuracy cratered in the second half, finishing with an NFL-worst 29.4 percent off-target rate. Then came Week 2 against Detroit, Johnson’s former team, and the perfect opportunity to showcase his system with Williams. Instead, the Lions demolished the Bears 52-21 at Ford Field. Williams was 19 of 30 for 207 yards with two touchdowns, but also threw an interception and was benched in the fourth quarter because Johnson said “the game was out of reach.”
“There are two or three components to being a quarterback in this league,” Cowherd explained. “You have to be consistently accurate. Again, Jared Goff can’t run. He’s consistently accurate; Caleb’s not. And you have to be an anticipation thrower. You have to see stuff before it’s wide open, and he doesn’t.”
Johnson tried to manage expectations before the season, setting a 70 percent completion percentage goal for Williams. Through the first two weeks, Williams is completing 60 percent of his passes while taking sacks and missing open receivers when plays break down. That’s the opposite of what Johnson’s offense requires.
The disconnect became obvious during the Bears’ collapse against Minnesota. After building an 11-point lead, Williams couldn’t execute when the Vikings adjusted. He missed DJ Moore on what should have been an easy first down conversion, sailed passes over receivers’ heads, and looked lost when forced to improvise.
“It also helps if you have composure. I don’t think he does,” Cowherd said. “He’s like the news anchor, and the teleprompter goes down. Oops.”
The irony is that Johnson was hired specifically to fix Williams’ development after a disastrous rookie season under Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron. The Bears fired coaches, revamped the offensive line, and made Johnson one of the highest-paid coaches in the NFL to unlock Williams’ potential.
Instead, they may have created a worse mismatch.
The warning signs were there during training camp when Williams struggled through practices designed to simulate pressure. Johnson implemented “wake-up” periods with intentional defensive pressure on every snap, and Williams looked uncomfortable throughout.
Two games into the season, nothing has changed. Williams still holds the ball too long, still misses routine throws, and still looks overwhelmed when plays break down. Johnson’s offense still demands precision timing that Williams hasn’t demonstrated he can provide consistently.
“I like the coach. I think the quarterback’s talented,” Cowherd said. “That doesn’t mean people get divorced and they find the love of their life. Caleb’s really talented, and Ben is a structured, timing coach, but together they don’t complement each other.”
The Bears invested everything in making this marriage work. But two games in, Cowherd is already ready to file the divorce proceedings.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.