Bears win, 24-24: The summer of Ben still burning white hot

The Bears and Dolphins tied 24-24 in their preseason opener on Sunday at Soldier Field, but there was a winner: The Ben Johnson Effect.

Johnson's influence on the Bears' rebuild continues to be a dominant, almost mesmerizing, factor that provides hope that no matter what happens in the run-up to the 2025 season — Caleb Williams struggling, the vacancy at left tackle, Jaylon Johnson's injury — everything will turn out right because Ben Johnson not only comes with offensive-coordinating chops, but also sounds and acts like a head coach who's done this before.

It's a belief that trumps the reality that the honeymoon phase has fooled Bears fans before. Johnson has been that impressive. Bears fans in general still have to see it to believe it, but in the back of their heads, they're believe in this guy more than any guy before him since Ditka.

The latest example came Sunday, when Johnson's deft clock management — and the Dolphins being in carefree four-down mode when they might not normally be in — to steal three points in the final 1:57 of the first half with Cairo Santos' 57-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. Whatever the circumstances, any clock-management win for the Bears is a big one.

But the Ben Johnson Effect was even more stark after the game, when backup quarterback Tyson Bagent explained the philosophy Johnson conveyed to the team prior to kickoff: "The game doesn't count. But the game matters." That is a philosophy that every coach in the NFL lives by. But Johnson has a way of taking things all coaches believe in and making it sound like something he coined, and it's inspiring.

And if it's mesmerizing to fans and media, the effect inside Halas Hall is even greater, perhaps exponential. Maybe that's why Ben Johnson was such a hot head coaching candidate in the 2025 cycle — it's not just his scheme that brought out the best in his players, but his ability to communicate and connect that establishes a buy-in that has staying power.

Marc Trestman (offensive guru/QB whisperer), John Fox (Super Bowl coach), Matt Nagy ("Be You"/Chiefs pedigree) and Matt Eberflus ("HITS" principle) all made an initial impact that created encouraging buy-in from their new players. But none of them could sustain it (some of that roster-related). Ben Johnson has the roster, the quarterback and the defense — and seemingly — seemingly — the "it" factor that creates sustained success. We'll see about that, but there's no doubt he's different from the rest.

The preseason game capped another good week for Johnson, who started the Bears gig with the wind at his back by not being Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron and continues to build on that momentum. He set his team up to succeed by having a virtual full-pads, live-tackling scrimmage in practice on Tuesday. The Bears were primed for a physical joint practice against the Dolphins on Thursday. The Dolphins were not, and the Bears clearly won the day — physically and mentally.

it remains to be seen just how much of a victory that was. It could be that the Bears' physicality took the Dolphins by surprise — an advantage the Bears are unlikely to have in the regular season — and led to a false positive. And sometimes the coaches who have a knack for sounding so right are like the boxer who has a plan until he gets punched in the face. But there's a trust in Johnson that he's got something many of his predecessors did not — a knack for this.

As Johnson said last week , "Trust is a strong word." But Ben Johnson already has cautiously earned the benefit of the doubt. This week's joint practice with the Bills on Friday and preseason game on Sunday at Soldier Field will reveal more. But Sept. 8 can't get here soon enough.

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