Ben Johnson’s glow-up after leaving Detroit didn’t last long, and Bears fans are already seeing the same flaws Lions supporters remember all too well.

Detroit’s disappointing 2025 campaign was made harder to swallow by Johnson’s immediate success in Chicago. In his first year as a head coach, he guided the Bears to an NFC North title—their first since 2018—and a divisional playoff berth, something the franchise hadn’t achieved since 2010. Chicago embraced him quickly. Fans celebrated his “Good, Better, Best” mantra with tattoos and reveled in his trolling of the Packers, earning Johnson near-universal praise.

That goodwill, however, evaporated fast.

A 20–17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams brought Johnson’s decision-making under scrutiny, signaling the possible end of his honeymoon phase. On paper, the Bears looked strong. They outpaced the Rams by nearly 80 yards, ran 68 plays, and averaged over five yards per snap. Yet the box score didn’t reflect the frustration caused by several aggressive—and arguably unnecessary—choices.

Chicago went for it on fourth down six times. They succeeded on half of those attempts, but the three failures all came with kicker Cairo Santos well within field-goal range. Even more puzzling was Johnson’s reluctance to let quarterback Caleb Williams throw the ball in those moments. Williams attempted just one pass across all six fourth-down plays, as Johnson leaned heavily on the run despite acknowledging earlier that the ground game had been trending downward.

The most questionable sequence came late in the fourth quarter. Trailing 17–10 with just over five minutes remaining, the Bears had first-and-goal at the Rams’ five-yard line. Johnson called three straight runs for D’Andre Swift that gained a combined three yards. Only on fourth down did Williams get the chance to pass—and his throw toward rookie Luther Burden fell incomplete, handing possession back to Los Angeles.

If not for a late breakdown by the Rams and a stunning fourth-down touchdown pass from Williams to Cole Kmet, Johnson’s choices would have drawn even harsher criticism. That dramatic score wouldn’t have been necessary had Chicago taken the easy points earlier, potentially forcing overtime or securing a regulation win.

This isn’t an isolated issue. Johnson’s postseason résumé as a playcaller has raised similar concerns before. Since the second half of Detroit’s 2023 NFC Championship Game collapse against San Francisco—when the Lions squandered a 24–7 halftime lead—his offenses have struggled in key moments. Over his last 14 quarters calling plays, Johnson-led teams have surrendered six turnovers on downs, coughed up two fumbles, thrown eight interceptions, and been outscored by 35 points, according to Lions-focused analyst “Section 344 Lions” on X.

That stretch also includes Detroit’s 45–31 playoff loss to Washington last year. While the Lions moved the ball at will and surpassed 520 yards of offense, the game unraveled due to turnovers—four interceptions in total—including a failed Jameson Williams trick play that backfired late.

None of this puts Johnson’s job in immediate danger. After all, he just delivered Chicago’s most successful season in over a decade. Still, questions remain. The Bears went 7–4 in one-score games this year—an outcome that often regresses. There’s also the looming possibility that assistant coaches from his staff could be hired away, making the road ahead more challenging in 2026.

In a sense, the pendulum may already be swinging. Chicago was crushed early in a wild-card matchup against Green Bay before storming back for a dramatic win, then followed it with Sunday’s stumble against the Rams. For Lions fans, it’s familiar territory—watching a brilliant offensive mind struggle with situational judgment. And if history repeats itself, Johnson’s biggest obstacle may not be talent or scheme, but the small decisions that keep slipping through his fingers, like an uncapped tube of toothpaste.