Lions OC Ben Johnson knocks job interview out of park with 34-17 win, trick play for touchdown
In dueling auditions Sunday for the Bears’ head-coaching vacancy, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson wowed the crowd at Soldier Field while Bears interim coach Thomas Brown was knocked out of the running.
As the Lions rolled to a 34-17 win that could’ve been much more lopsided, Brown’s team fell flat yet again and Johnson unveiled a trick play that put his team ahead 20 early in the third quarter.
The Lions capped their opening drive of the second half with a preposterous — and perfect — play: Quarterback Jared Goff pretended to fumble the snap and caught the Bears out of position as tight end Sam LaPorta ran open toward the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown pass.
“Ben’s always got something up his sleeve,” wide receiver Jameson Williams smirked.
Remember when Matt Eberflus claimed he had something up his sleeve last season and it turned out to be nothing?
When Johnson initially pitched Goff on an actual fumble, and they workshopped it to a fake one in which running back Jahmyr Gibbs dove to the ground for the phantom ball and the offensive linemen yelled, “Fumble!”
Some coaches would get laughed out of the room for an idea like that — Can you imagine Shane Waldron explaining it? — but credibility makes all the difference. The Lions have been a top-five offense in all three of Johnson’s seasons as coordinator. It’s why he’ll be the league’s most coveted candidate this offseason.
“We think every play that he has is going to work,” wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said. “Ben’s smart. He’s watching tape, seeing tendencies, things that can work, so the plays he draws up, there’s a reason behind it.”
Brown knew it clicked as soon as he heard the hopeful, “Oooh,” from the crowd. “Perfect,” he thought as he ran his route, then turned to see his team celebrating a touchdown and a 34-14 lead.
He also noted that Johnson had called the play earlier in the game, but had the sense to scrap it because the Bears presented a problematic defensive formation. He has a reputation for creativity, maximizing his personnel and calling the right play at the right moment — all of which has eluded the Bears.
Timing is everything, and the Bears hope they’re in the right place at the right time to lure Johnson after he rebuffed multiple teams last year. He raved about rookie quarterback Caleb Williams last week, and maybe he’ll be so enticed that he’ll deal with concerns about general manager Ryan Poles’ job security and the many roster upgrades this team needs.
Johnson was the favorite for this job even before Eberflus got fired, and Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is right behind him. Brown got a chance, albeit a flawed one while taking over a crumbling team, to put himself on their level, but hasn’t made anything better while going 0-3 and losing by a combined score of 102-42.
“The guys continue to battle and keep fighting, but it’s not good enough,” Brown said. “We’ve got to coach it better, demand a better result.”
It’s way too late for that, and now the Bears are on a nine-game losing streak that stands second in franchise history.
If anything, Brown’s promotion has raised concern about whether the Bears were wise to mess with a coaching structure that worked for Williams and their offense when he was offensive coordinator.
The Bears have started out down 24-0, 13-0 and 20-0 in his games as coach. The Lions scored on their first six full possessions Sunday.
“We’ve got plays that we want to get off the sheet pretty early that we’re intent on, and he does a good job setting up plays later on by doing that,” Goff said of Johnson. “He’s very aware of how to start fast.”
Johnson’s resumé is strong. His references are glowing. And he knocked his first job interview out of the park.