The Chicago Bears spent an entire offseason talking about Caleb Williams, Ben Johnson and what this offense could finally look like through the air.
Three games into the season, they lead the NFL in something else entirely.
Chicago enters Week 4 with the league's top rushing attack, averaging 184.3 yards per game. For an offense expected to take its biggest leap behind Williams and an upgraded passing game, the Bears have instead become downright nasty on the ground.
The Bears have found a different offensive identity
This wasn't exactly the sales pitch when Johnson arrived in Chicago.
Williams was coming off an encouraging first season under Johnson. The expectation was that Year 2 in the system would open things up even further, especially with Chicago continuing to build around its young quarterback.
Instead, the Bears have rushed for 553 yards through three games.
That's not just a nice complement to the passing game. That's 184.3 yards per game from a team that averaged 139.5 last season.
D'Andre Swift has been right in the middle of it.
Swift opened the season by ripping Carolina for 124 yards and three touchdowns on only 18 carries. He followed that up with another productive performance against Minnesota before running for 84 yards Monday night against Philadelphia. He now has 253 rushing yards through three games while averaging 4.7 yards per carry.
Chicago didn't need Swift to go crazy against the Eagles, either. The Bears were able to keep moving the football while starting 38-year-old Case Keenum at quarterback and still walked out of Soldier Field with a 27-7 win. Keenum threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns, while Chicago controlled the ball for nearly 37 minutes.
That's where this starts getting interesting.
Ben Johnson doesn't need everything to run through Caleb Williams
Nobody is confusing Keenum with Williams.
There isn't a quarterback controversy brewing in Chicago, nor should there be. Williams is the franchise quarterback, and the Bears' long-term ceiling is still tied directly to how good he becomes.
But Chicago just learned something useful while Williams recovers from his hamstring injury.
This offense can survive without asking its quarterback to do everything.
That's a luxury the Bears haven't exactly enjoyed very often.
A legitimate running game changes the equation once Williams returns. Defenses can't simply worry about containing him, taking away the deep ball and forcing Chicago to string together long drives through the air.
Johnson can make them pay another way.
The Bears have already shown they can hammer a defense on the ground. Against Philadelphia, the threat of that running game also helped create opportunities elsewhere as the Eagles committed resources toward stopping it. Chicago finished with 375 total yards despite playing its third-string quarterback.
Suddenly, there are several ways to make a defense miserable.
Chicago may have something sustainable
Three games are three games.
Nobody should start engraving "NFL rushing champions" on anything at Halas Hall in October. Defenses adjust, injuries happen and the Bears still have 14 regular-season games left.
But this doesn't look like a couple of lucky runs inflating the numbers.
Swift is averaging nearly five yards per carry. Chicago has already shown it can run when its starting quarterback isn't available. Johnson has also shown he's perfectly willing to build an offensive game plan around whatever gives the Bears the best chance that week.
Now comes another test against the New York Jets on Sunday.
Chicago doesn't need to abandon the passing game or suddenly turn Williams into a spectator once he's healthy. Quite the opposite. The development of this rushing attack could make his job considerably easier.
The Bears wanted to build one of the NFL's better offenses around Williams.
Three weeks into the season, they've somehow ended up with the NFL's best rushing attack instead.
Nobody saw that coming.
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