If the Bears were auditioning for Ben Johnson, he saw Caleb Williams and not much else. Maybe that’s enough.

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, one of the hot candidates for the next round of head coaching jobs, is “intrigued’’ by the Bears opening, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero said Sunday.

Intrigued? Like a scientist studying a dying species is intrigued? Like someone drawn to a CTA third rail might be intrigued?

OK, OK: Johnson would be crazy not to be intrigued by Caleb Williams’ strong right arm. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft was very good Sunday in a 34-17 loss to the Lions. He threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns. Even someone who had never seen a football game would have recognized the rookie’s ability.

As for the rest of it, why would Johnson want anything to do with all the factors that have led the Bears to what they’ve been the past four decades?

Why would he be intrigued by a team that has lost nine straight games or by the prospect of working with the man who built this sad roster, Bears general manager Ryan Poles? What would give Johnson confidence that Poles could build an offensive line to protect Williams when he failed to do so this season?

Nothing.

And, yet, Caleb Williams.

He’s the answer to every question and every doubt about the Bears. He’s the gold coin in the cow field. The team got him by being awful at football at just the right time, thus landing the right to choose first in the draft. Their continued ineptness theoretically will give them good choices when it comes to picking a successor to the ousted Matt Eberflus and interim coach Thomas Brown.

If Johnson is indeed intrigued by the Bears job, that might be reason to start questioning his sanity. When somebody is willing to shake chairman George McCaskey’s hand after signing a contract to coach the team, I immediately see failings in that person that I hadn’t seen before.

If Sunday was the Bears’ audition for Johnson’s services, it was a mixed bag. Williams was exceptional at times, which might be all Johnson needed to see. But the Bears defense, once thought to be the strength of this team, was terrible (though terrible against Johnson’s excellent offense). He also saw an undisciplined Bears team. They had 10 penalties for 70 yards. With the Lions facing a fourth-and-1 late in the second quarter, Bears defensive lineman Austin Booker was called for a neutral-zone infraction. Inexcusable. Detroit went on to score a touchdown.

The Lions’ Jameson Williams scored on an 82-yard reception earlier in the quarter because he’s very fast and because Bears defensive backs Tyrique Stevenson and Jonathan Owens fell asleep on the play. Maybe covering Williams came with too high a degree of difficulty.

Oh, and Bears rookie receiver Rome Odunze was involved in two lost fumbles.

Johnson knows a good quarterback is everything in the NFL, so he might look at the above sins as much ado about nothing. And he might be right. But how many coaches have come through Halas Hall with all the best ideas and intentions, only to run into a wall of McCaskey?

On Sunday, Williams finally gave up pretending that there are other receivers on the Bears’ roster besides Keenan Allen. They connected on a 45-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

“With a guy like Caleb, you’ve always got a chance to move the ball downfield,’’ said Allen, who finished with nine catches for 141 yards.

Why was Allen so successful Sunday?

“I’m me,’’ he said.

There you go.

Williams’ confidence isn’t quite so loud, but it’s there. It’s amazing he still has any at all after being sacked a total of 60 times in 15 games and being part of an ugly losing streak. He didn’t sound as impressed by Sunday’s passing game as some of us were.

“Obviously there’s been growth, but today I would say it wasn’t us growing in that sense,’’ he said. “We did a lot of things good, but we also did a lot of things bad to put our defense in bad situations, to not help us scoring points.’’

That maturity should be intriguing to any coach interested in the Bears’ job.

So, what did Johnson see Sunday? I’m sure he only had eyes for Williams. Other than the quarterback and a few good receivers, there’s not much else – besides the possibility to coach one of the NFL’s original franchises. That’s been the Bears’ main selling point for years. Coaches have bought it, then come and gone.

It’s why the question being asked today is always on repeat: Who’s next?