The Chicago Bears took a big leap last year in what was Caleb Williams’ second season as quarterback and Ben Johnson’s first as head coach. Chicago went from just five wins in 2024 to 11 last season and won their first playoff game since Jay Cutler was the starting quarterback more than a decade ago.
Expectations are high, but no one expects more of this team than Johnson who recently told The Athletic that the Super Bowl isn’t even the top goal this season:
“You’ve got 31 other teams coming to training camp saying, ‘Our goal is to win the Super Bowl,’” he says. “I want more than that. I want to have the highest-scoring offense ever, which happens to be the 2013 Denver Broncos. I know how many points per game they scored (37.9), and I want to surpass them. I want shutouts. I want blowouts.”
That would be quite an accomplishment. In fact, it would be downright incredible. The Los Angeles Rams, who had the top scoring offense in the NFL last season, only averaged 30.5 points a game. In doing so, the Rams scored 518 total points. Peyton Manning’s ’20’13 Broncos scored 606 points in 16 games. They are the only team to ever score over 600 points in a season with the ’07 New England Patriots coming closest with 589.
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Even with an extra game, it will be hard to match the ’13 Broncos point total. The Bears would have to score 35 points a game which has only been done five times in NFL history. Johnson doesn’t care.
“Why can’t we do that?” he says. “There has never been an undefeated season (since teams have been playing more than 14 regular-season games). The moon is the Super Bowl, but we’re shooting beyond that, for the stars. And I want these players to feel that each and every single day they come in.”
This is obviously a big year for manifesting unbelievable things in the NFL. Johnson is talking about wanting to score the most points ever. Dak Prescott is talking about the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl. Todd Monken is talking about the Browns having good quarterbacks.
Bulletin board material is out. Vision board material is in. Welcome to the NFL of every team’s dreams.
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