🚨 JUST IN: Cris Collinsworth Reveals What Almost Broke Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams Early⚡.DH

From the outside, the Ben Johnson–Caleb Williams partnership now looks inevitable.
Effortless. Aligned. Powerful.

But according to Cris Collinsworth, it almost didn’t work at all.

Speaking during Super Bowl week, the NBC analyst revealed that the early stages of Johnson’s first season with the Chicago Bears were far from smooth — especially with his young quarterback.

The pairing that now defines the Bears’ resurgence began with tension, confusion, and a fundamental clash of habits.

“There was definitely friction early,” Collinsworth said. “That’s what happens when you put a demanding offensive mind together with a quarterback who’s used to doing things his own way.”

Williams arrived in Chicago as a savior. Confident. Creative. Fearless.
Johnson arrived with structure, timing, and precision — and very little patience for freelancing.

At first, those worlds didn’t align.

Williams wanted to extend plays, trust instinct, and bend structure when necessary. Johnson wanted rhythm, footwork, and answers before the snap.

The result, Collinsworth noted, was an offense that looked disjointed early in the season — flashes of brilliance surrounded by long stretches of inefficiency.

But here’s where the story quietly turns.

Neither side blinked.

Johnson didn’t water down the system.
Williams didn’t shut down or push back publicly.

Instead, they started meeting in the middle — not emotionally, but intellectually.

“What changed,” Collinsworth explained, “was that Caleb started seeing why the structure mattered. And Ben started understanding where Caleb’s creativity could actually be an advantage instead of a liability.”

The shift wasn’t loud. There was no viral locker-room speech. No dramatic sideline moment. It happened in film rooms. In late-night installs. In subtle adjustments to protections, launch points, and route spacing.

Slowly, the offense stopped fighting itself.

Williams began trusting timing without losing his edge. Johnson began designing answers that allowed Williams to be himself — but on schedule.

The results were undeniable.

Chicago went from inconsistent to dangerous.
From surviving games to dictating them.

By season’s end, Williams had set franchise records, led multiple fourth-quarter comebacks, and turned the Bears into a legitimate Super Bowl contender heading into 2026.

More importantly, the offense finally had an identity — one built on controlled aggression.

Collinsworth emphasized that this type of growth rarely happens this fast.

“Most young quarterbacks either break the system or get broken by it,” he said. “Caleb didn’t. And Ben didn’t flinch. That’s rare.”

What makes the partnership so powerful now isn’t talent alone. It’s shared belief.

Johnson trusts Williams to make the right mistake aggressively.
Williams trusts Johnson to put him in positions where instincts make sense.

That trust was earned — not assumed.

And in a league where impatience often defines outcomes, the Bears resisted the urge to simplify, reset, or blame. They stayed the course.

Looking ahead, Collinsworth was clear: this relationship is now one of the most dangerous in the NFL.

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all,” he said, “if we’re talking about Chicago in the Super Bowl very soon — because this is what real quarterback-coordinator partnerships look like when they work.”

The scary part for the rest of the league?

They’re just getting started.