Mike Florio on Bears head coach Ben Johnson’s stated goal of being the highest scoring offense of all time.
There’s a certain logic to setting goals higher than the ultimate goal. Still, the only goal that matters most to NFL fans is winning Super Bowls. Scoring doesn’t matter. Winning streaks don’t matter.
The goal is to get to the playoffs and then be the one team that runs the table.
Florio has a point. But he’s not accounting for the fact that Bears fans have been starved to offensive success for 20 years now.
In 13 of the last 20 seasons, the Bears have ranked 20th or worse in total offensive yards and between 2016 and 2024 the team ranked 20th or worse in scoring offense seven times, bottoming out at 32nd in total yards during the 2024 season.
Even when the Bears have success as a team, it’s almost never because of the offense. During their 2005 playoff run, they managed to win 11 games despite fielding the 29th-ranked offense in total yards and the 26th-ranked scoring unit.
Honestly, Bears games were so misserable to have to watch that I felt the need to apologize to fans of other teams becasue they were forced to watch their offensive incompetance in prime time slots on national television.
It’s been so long since the Bears have had sustained offensive success that they barely remember what a good quarterback looks like. Before Caleb Williams hit the scene, many Bears fans wouldn’t recognize one is they saw one.
I guess what I’m saying is, yes, team success is the ultimate goal. But Bears fans are starved for more more and, given the recent history of the franchise, how the team wins is going to count for a lot with them.
Johnson is playing to the crowd when he sets offensive success as a major priority. Win or lose, the Bears are finally playing an entertaining brand of football. Bears fans can appreciate and respond to that perhaps more than fans of any other team in the NFL.