Ben Johnson offers brutally honest take on Caleb Williams, Bears’ passing attack

What a time to be a Chicago Bears fan.

As the calendar flips to December, the 2025 season has been nothing short of a dream-turned-reality in Year 1 of the Ben Johnson era. The Bears are 9-3, the current No. 1 seed in the NFC, and in sole possession of the NFC North lead.

A showdown with the arch-rival Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field is up next in Week 14.

Yep, it’s a great time to be a Bears fan.

But that doesn’t mean all is perfect in Chicago.

Ben Johnson doesn’t hold back on Caleb Williams, Bears’ receivers

Johnson met with reporters on Monday and offered a brutally honest assessment of the Bears’ passing attack after 12 games. Specifically, Johnson noted that Caleb Williams’ completion percentage is a focus and that his fundamentals require extra attention.

It goes for the Bears’ wide receivers, too.

“The primary receiver when he’s open, we’ve got to make sure we hit him,” Johnson said. “And then all of our pass catchers, we just harped on it today, we need to be more disciplined in our route detail. It’s not where it needs to be. Our depth’s not proper all the time. Our steps isn’t.

Everybody has a role to play to get this pass game cleaned up. It’s not where it needs to be. We’re winning in spite of our passing game, not because of it. And none of us are pleased with that.”

Caleb Williams ended Week 13’s win over the Eagles, completing 17 of 36 passes for 154 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. He ran for 13 yards on five carries.

Caleb Williams drops an absolute dime to Cole Kmet for the Bears touchdown ? #Bears #NFL pic.twitter.com/qG9UdrRIm8

— Aggregate Sports (@AggregateSports) November 28, 2025

It was far from a perfect day for Williams, and Johnson is correct: The Bears are winning football games behind the NFL’s best rushing attack, not the passing game.

Indeed, Caleb Williams has been “Iceman” in one-score games, but if the passing game can find more of a consistent rhythm, some of those one-score games would be blowout Bears victories.

If these Chicago Bears want to be a legitimate playoff contender, they’ll need the passing game to catch up to the running game, and quickly.