Ben Johnson says passing game EPA is key to Bears' success

The Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson as their head coach to energize the offense with his creative play-calling and help Caleb Williams fulfill lofty expectations as the 2024 No. 1 overall pick.

First and foremost, Johnson is tasked with returning the Bears to the top of the NFC North. He's in charge of a team that finished 5-12 last season and hasn't had a winning campaign since 2018, the last time Chicago won a division title.

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On Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings, Johnson shed more light on how he plans to turn Chicago into a contender. One primary focus will be to boost the Bears' expected points added (EPA) in the passing game.

“The way I understand it right now from our analytics team, the EPA in the passing game is really one of the most critical factors in determining wins and losses right now,” Johnson said. "That's probably changed over the last five years or so. I would've said five years ago turnovers, takeaways — that was No. 1. From what I understand now, EPA for the passing game has now surpassed that.

"So whatever team has the higher passing game EPA at the end of the game, they generally win that game. It's over 80% of the time. So it's a huge stat."

This is extremely important as Ben Johnson takes over as #Bears head coach: passing game EPA now matters more than turnover margin 🔊 pic.twitter.com/dmAtQZLTy2
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) April 1, 2025

To "inflate that number," Johnson said Chicago must prioritize a higher completion percentage and create more "run-after-catch opportunities." Before you Bears fans panic, he is not talking about having Williams do his best Jimmy Garoppolo impression in a conservative, dink-and-dunk passing attack.

"That's not to say we're not going to take our shots down the field and look for big explosive plays, chunks or touchdowns," Johnson added. "But there's a lot of ways to get that done."

Ben Johnson focusing on the one 'huge stat' to turn Bears into contenders

By Joe Lago | Apr 1, 2025