Hang around Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson long enough and it becomes easy to detect that look in his eye: the spark, the confidence of a solution-seeking leader who has identified an opportunity.Bears coaches felt one of those familiar Johnson eagerness spikes last winter. Players recognized it in the early spring after Johnson pinpointed a specific improvement target he believes can significantly boost the offense.“There’s something here,” he told them. “There’s definitely something here.”Johnson had done a comprehensive study of the Bears’ scramble drill video from last season and discovered messiness, promise and untapped potential. Even with an offense that vaulted from last in the NFL in total yardage in 2024 to sixth in Johnson’s first season — and from 28th to ninth in scoring — the coach’s thorough evaluation was filled with irritation, disappointment and eventually positivity, specifically with the Bears’ production on extended plays.On so many occasions, thanks to the athleticism and artistry of quarterback Caleb Williams, the offense found ways to improvise when their original concept didn’t quite click. Any YouTube search of 2025 Williams highlights will return a compilation of such moments, almost always including the fourth-and-8 “Jumpman” magic trick that produced a 27-yard completion to Rome Odunze during the Bears’ playoff rally past Green Bay. (Madden cover, anyone?)Expectations for the Bears' D-line in 2026Kevin Fishbain and Dan WiedererBut too frequently and for myriad reasons, many similar plays became empty adrenaline rushes, near-misses, “Wow!” incompletions. Johnson estimates that, when Williams broke the pocket and threw downfield last season, the Bears connected at only about a 40 percent rate. Not good enough.“He’s too good of a thrower on the run,” Johnson says. “Our guys are too good at separating for that not to be at a higher clip for us. There are big plays there to be had. … I think that’s something Caleb can really sink into. I think we can make a huge jump.”Receivers coach and assistant coach Antwaan Randle El agrees, calling last year’s extended play inventory both “frustrating” and “encouraging,” and believing the Bears should have done much more damage. Sometimes Williams wasn’t precise enough with his passes or was a tad too helter-skelter on the move. In other instances, receivers weren’t urgent enough in the way they came alive for the ensuing scramble. Or they simply didn’t create enough separation or secure a catchable pass.“It’s like, ‘Dude, we made these (plays); why didn’t we make that one?’” Randle El says. “It just comes down to small things we have to adjust.”That is precisely why Johnson’s enthusiasm has elevated with confidence that an entire unit — quarterback, pass catchers, blockers — will collaborate on a season-long endeavor that’s part science experiment, part art project, part traffic study. There’s something here indeed. But collective ownership is required.In a best-case scenario, the Bears’ troubleshooting efforts might soon become a production cheat code, perhaps as early as Sunday when they open the season at Carolina.Says Williams: “This is a piece of our offense that will help make us one of the most explosive, if not the most explosive offense in the league.”But how exactly?As sacrilegious as this might sound to devout Bears fans, Johnson was equipped inside Halas Hall this offseason with Green Bay Packers highlights as a teach tape. That’s nothing new around the league with peak Aaron Rodgers, a four-time league MVP, propped up as a maestro with elite ability to orchestrate an entire offense through an extended play.The Packers’ archived videos speak for themselves.“They were very defined with what they were doing,” Johnson says. “You could tell they coached it. You could tell Aaron really believed this was a big play waiting to happen — whether it’s a throw down the field or whether it’s a chance for (defensive pass interference). And all their guys reacted that way.”Thus, that’s what Bears coaches highlighted. The response time. The urgency. The stamina.The non-verbal communication. The understanding of where to go and how to get there.“These are great opportunities for big plays,” Johnson says, “particularly with the style of quarterback Caleb is. We’ve got to use that.”The green-and-gold tutorial wasn’t new for tight end Cole Kmet. For two seasons, he played under former Bears coordinator Luke Getsy, who had three years of his own experience working with Rodgers in Green Bay. By extension, Kmet had received plenty of tutelage on how the Packers found their groove.“A lot of it,” he says, “is learning to play with that style of quarterback.”Perhaps it’s fitting then that two of the better examples of the Bears making the most of a scramble drill last season came at Lambeau Field — in Week 14 against the Packers, in the stadium where Rodgers so often became a football alchemist.The first, during a third-quarter Bears touchdown drive, came after a play-action concept fizzled. Williams, amid pressure from blitzing safety Evan Williams, sprinted right to create space. And Kmet, recognizing both the “second play” opening and the space available down the field, turned up the right sideline with linebacker Isaiah McDuffie in his wake.The resulting 26-yard completion — great vision, great timing, great touch on the throw, great body control on the catch — was among the prettiest sequences of the season.