The Chicago Bears have been one of the biggest storylines of the young NFL season. Bears head coach Ben Johnson has guided Chicago to a 3-1 start, and he has done it with three wins from three different quarterbacks.

That alone should put him squarely in the early Coach of the Year conversation early on.

If you ask me, the Bears are real. Johnson has found a way to win without quarterback Caleb Williams on the field for stretches, and that says a lot about the system he has built in a short amount of time.

Ben Johnson keeps finding ways to win

Tyson Bagent was the latest quarterback to pick up a win for Chicago in Week 4. Johnson’s ability to run the football and adjust his plan to whoever is under center has been tremendously impressive.

Here’s the thing about this offense: It is explosive, and it is multiple. The Bears can beat you in a lot of different ways. That includes grinding out games when the points aren’t coming easily.

The numbers back it up. Chicago scored 59 points in Week 1. Over the last three games combined, the Bears have put up 53 points, which is less than that season-opening total. Even so, they keep finding ways to win, and that is the mark of a well-coached team.

The loss to Minnesota doesn’t change much

The lone blemish came in a 9-3 loss to the Vikings. Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores blitzed relentlessly, and nearly everything that could go wrong for Chicago did go wrong.

The Bears committed three turnovers, turned it over on downs, and had a kick blocked. On top of that, Williams went down with a strange hamstring injury late in the game. For all of that chaos, Chicago still lost by just six points.

What stands out is how well the Bears have responded since. Once Williams returns and Johnson can open up the offense the way it is designed, I believe Chicago becomes a legitimate contender.

Would the Lions be better off with Ben Johnson?

Johnson’s early success in Chicago also brings back a familiar debate.

Whenever a hotshot coordinator emerges, the conversation inevitably turns to whether he is the secret sauce behind his team’s success. That was the case with Johnson during his time as the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator, when some wondered if he was the real reason for Detroit’s winning ways rather than head coach Dan Campbell.

So here’s the question: Would the Lions be better off right now with Johnson or Campbell as their head coach?

My answer is Johnson. This is the first time I’m sympathetic to that conversation, and I want to be clear about why. Campbell is a good head coach. The root of that debate for a lot of people is a belief that he is some kind of fraud, and I don’t think that is the case at all.

Instead, it comes down to how good Johnson already is. He might be the second most valuable coach in the NFL, behind only Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers). Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams) is in that conversation as well, but one thing is very clear: Johnson belongs in that tier.