1st-and-10: A Swift acknowledgement of The Ben Johnson Effect

With the ink barely dry on his three-year, $33.75 million contract extension, D'Andre Swift opened Year 2 under Ben Johnson with a 17-yard run cut down to nine because of a holding penalty on wide receiver Rome Odunze. On the very next play he got the ball again and gained four yards.

Then came rushes of four and five yards on the Bears' second series, and a nine-yard gain that was nullified by a holding penalty on center Garrett Bradbury. Four plays later, Swift got the ball again and gained 32 yards and the Bears were off and running toward a 59-37 season-opening victory over the Panthers.

Nothing was going to stop Swift or deter Johnson from using him Sunday. Swift finished with 18 carries for 124 yards and three touchdowns, plus one reception for 10 yards. And Swift fittingly was at the tip of the spear of this onslaught — more evidence that what Johnson is doing with the Bears not only is real but will have staying power. He once was not a Ben Johnson guy, and now he is.

Swift, in fact, noticeably faltered as the Lions' offense blossomed in Johnson's first season as offensive coordinator in 2022. As the Lions were taking a giant leap from 25th to fifth in the NFL in scoring and from 22nd to fourth in yards, Swift's role diminished — from 151 carries in 2021 to 99 in 2022. He was still effective — he averaged 5.5 yards per carry and also had 48 receptions for 389 yards, with eight total touchdowns. But he wasn't a keeper. The Lions upgraded with former Bear David Montgomery in free agency and Jahmyr Gibbs in the first round of the draft and traded Swift to the Eagles.

When Johnson inherited Swift again when he was hired by the Bears in 2025, he embraced the opportunity instead of looking for an upgrade after Swift's disappointing first season with the Bears in 2024. It paid off in 2025, when Swift had arguably his best season in the NFL — even better than his Pro Bowl season with the Eagles in 2023. He had 223 carries for career highs of 1,087 yards and nine touchdowns. He's off to a fast start in 2026, with room for growth in Johnson's offense as a receiver.

That's the beauty of Johnson's offense — every player has a chance to succeed, even if they didn't succeed at first. Last year, Ozzy Trapilo lost a competition for the starting left tackle position that was his to win. He not only lost it to a player who himself would lose the job (Braxton Jones), but was switched to right tackle, behind stalwart Darnell Wright.

What looked like at least a short-term failure turned into an impressive example of player development. Johnson not only refused to give Trapilo a starting job he had not earned, but saw him grow into a starter as a back-up. Trapilo replaced Theo Benedet at left tackle in Week 12 and started to look like the potential long-term answer in seven starts before suffering a season-ending patellar tendon injury.

It remains to be seen if Trapilo can become that long-term starter the Bears envision after surprisingly returning to the 53-man roster (but inactive) for Week 1. But whether you're a former discard like Swift, a seventh-round draft pick like Kyle Monangai or a player coming off an injury like Trapilo, if Johnson believes in you, you've got a chance to succeed.

2a. The Bears' 59 points against the Panthers are the most on offense in a single game in franchise history. The Bears beat the Packers 61-7 in 1980 and the 49ers 61-20 in 1965, but scored one touchdown on defense or special teams — Len Walterscheid's 36-yard interception return in 1980; Gale Sayers' 85-yard punt return in 1969. Even when the Bears beat the Redskins 73-0 in the 1940 NFL Championship Game, they scored 53 on offense, with three interception-return touchdowns (Hampton Pool, George McAfee, Bulldog Turner) contributing to the remarkable rout.

The Bears set a franchise record for points in a season opener — eclipsing a 45-7 victory over the Packers in 1948. They scored two touchdowns in the first quarter of an opener for the first time since 1988, when Neal Anderson scored on a 2-yard run and 1-yard run in a 34-7 victory over the Dolphins at Soldier Field.

2b. The Bears not only scored 59 points without the aid of a defensive or special teams touchdowns, but also without the short fields that usually are part of a high-scoring game. The Bears drove 60 yards or more for six of their eight touchdowns (and 41 and 49 yards for the other two). That's more than half the number of 60-yard-plus drives in the entire 2005 season (11), when the Bears went 11-5 and won the NFC North.

Long touchdown drives are a hallmark of Johnson's offenses. In three seasons with the Lions, the offense scored a touchdown on 30.6% of drives that started inside the 40 (138 of 451). They ranked first in the NFL in that span — including an NFL-best 36.8% (57 of 155) in Year 3 in 2024.

The Bears scored touchdowns on 6 of 11 (54.5%) drives that started inside the 40 against the Panthers to improve their overall percentage to 25.6 (40 of 156) in Johnson's 18 regular-season games as the Bears' head coach. For comparison, in the 10 seasons prior to Johnson's hiring, the Bears scored on 16.7% of drives that started inside the 40.

3. The notion that a strong Ben Johnson offense would benefit Dennis Allen's shaky defense by allowing it to play aggressively with a lead went up in flames on Sunday. When the Bears took a 21-7 lead in the first half, the defense instead allowed a three-play, 73-yard touchdown drive that gave the home team life and arguably goaded Johnson into a risky fourth-and-one attempt that added fuel to the Panthers' recovery.

Still, the virtually nonexistent preseason that wreaked havoc on tackling and defense throughout the NFL in Week 1 exaggerated the Bears' strength and weakness Sunday. The Bears' are due for a correction against Brian Flores and the Vikings, but the defense figures to be better as well with an actual game played. That still favors the Bears, who can score 30-plus against any team in the league with Johnson's offense.

4. Caleb Williams completed 72.4 percent of his passes (21 of 29) against the Panthers — the first time he's broken the 70-percent mark in Johnson's offense. He also threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns, without an interception for a 124.1 passer rating.

Flores' defense will be a much better measure of his improvement in Year 2 in Johnson's offense. Williams had passer ratings of 86.6 and 68.9 in two games against the Vikings last season (a 27-24 loss in Week 1 at Soldier Field; a 19-17 victory in Week 11 at U.S. Bank Stadium).

Overall, Williams completed 37-of-67 passes for 403 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for a 78.1 passer rating, with 10 rushes for 84 yards and one touchdown in two games against the Vikings last season.

5. It's probably a coincidence that one day after the Packers signed tight end Tucker Kraft to a four-year, $75 million extension with an annual average value of $18.75 million that Johnson's offense featured the tight end who's already been paid instead of the tight end who has yet to be paid.

While veteran Cole Kmet had two receptions for 35 yards, including a nifty 22-yard "great throw/great catch" touchdown that gave the Bears a 21-7 lead, Colston Loveland did not have a catch for the first time in his 19-game NFL career. Loveland led the Bears in receptions (58), yards (713) and touchdowns (six, tied with DJ Moore) last season, and finished with a flourish — averaging seven receptions for 94.5 yards, with two touchdowns in his last four games. But he was the odd-man out against the Panthers. Hmmm ...

6. The Bears not only beat the Panthers on Sunday, but beat the Carolina heat. It was 89 degrees at game time (and significantly hotter on the field), yet the Bears finished almost as strong as they started — outscoring the Panthers 21-7 and out-gaining them 193-121 in taking a 52-31 lead with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter.

That's a big improvement from the 31-28 overtime loss to the Dolphins in Miami in 2018, when the Bears wilted in the 89-degree heat at Hard Rock Stadium — allowing 329 yards and 21 points after taking a 21-10 lead with 6:50 left in the third quarter.

7. The Bears' offensive line didn't miss a beat with Garrett Bradbury replacing Drew Dalman and Braxton Jones battling an injury Sunday. Not only did the Bears rush 39 times for 291 yards (7.5 avg.), but they had four rushes of 28 yards or longer — more than they had in the entire 2025 season (three).

The Bears also had four of the eight longest runs in the NFL in Week 1 — Monangai (61-yard touchdown), Swift (32, 28) and Williams (29-yard touchdown). The others were notable backs — the Chiefs' Kenneth Walker (60-yard touchdown, 28), the Eagles' Saquon Barkley (42) and the Ravens' Derrick Henry (32-yard touchdown).

8. Rushing yardage traditionally (and rightfully) is associated with the offensive line, and to a lesser extent the tight ends. But the Bears' peripheral blocking by wide receivers was particularly noticeable Sunday — another hallmark of the Johnson offense.

Therein lies the secret to Johnson's success. Virtually every NFL coach values the offensive line and wants to base his offense on the run, but Johnson consistently gets it done. Virtually every coach wants to "get off the bus running," but Johnson actually does it. Every coach wants their wide receivers to block ("No block, no rock"), but the receivers on Johnson's team do it with particular gusto and effectiveness.

Johnson's m.o. is not much different than any other NFL coach — football's football. but Johnson turns his passion into obsession — like Lovie Smith with takeaways — and has a way of getting players to respond. Preventing those messages from getting stale is the key to staying power, but first things first. The Bears are just getting started.

9. Ex-Bears Player of the Week: Bills wide receiver DJ Moore had five receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown from Josh Allen in a 36-31 victory over the Texans at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

Moore is on his way toward becoming the first receiver in NFL history with 1,000 or more receiving yards with seven quarterbacks. The six so far: Cam Newton (1,135), Kyle Allen (1,081), Teddy Bridgewater (1,009), Sam Darnold (1,200), Justin Fields (1,109) and Caleb Williams (1,648).

10. Bear-ometer: 12-5 — vs. Vikings (W); vs. Eagles (L); vs. Jets (W); at Packers (W); at Falcons (W); vs. Patriots (W); at Seahawks (L); vs. Buccaneers (W); vs. Saints (W); at Lions (L); vs. Jaguars (L); at Dolphins (W); at Bills (L); vs. Packers (W); vs. Lions (W); at Vikings (W).

---