Why We’re Not Worried About Ben Johnson’s Bears As A Real Threat To the Lions
Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
Moments after the Detroit Lions’ season ended with a playoff loss to the Washington Commanders, Ben Johnson was already looking ahead. He had spent the bye week (and possibly earlier) constructing a staff for his next head coaching job.
Lions fans saw the writing on the wall as Johnson interviewed for several jobs over the team’s bye week and prepared to lose their first coordinator to a head coaching position since the JFK administration. Somehow, they weren’t quite prepared for him to move to an NFC North rival, taking the job with the hated Chicago Bears.
A lot has been said about Johnson’s arrival in Chicago, from fans’ conspiracy theories that he threw the game to start his new job, or that his choice had something to do with a strained relationship with Dan Campbell. But there hasn’t been enough time spent on the real question Lions fans should worry about: Are the Bears a threat under Ben Johnson?
We already know the difference Johnson has made with the Lions. In 2021, Campbell relied on offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, who oversaw an offense that ranked 18th in passing offense, 19th in rushing offense, and 25th in points. While Campbell took over playcalling duties late in the season, it wasn’t enough to save the Lions from their eventual 3-13-1 record.
Johnson was in Detroit before Campbell’s arrival but had a smaller role on Matt Patricia’s staff, serving as offensive quality control coach in 2019 and tight ends coach in 2020. Johnson remained on the staff when Campbell took over, but was also given the title of passing game coordinator before ascending to offensive coordinator in 2022.
The assembly of one of the best offensive lines in football and the emergence of Amon-Ra St. Brown as a dynamic receiving weapon helped Johnson revive the Lions’ offense. Detroit jumped to fifth in points, eighth in passing, and 11th in rushing in Johnson’s first season. Then Johnson got yet another explosive piece when the Lions took Jahmyr Gibbs in the 2023 Draft.
Detroit’s method was simple: Acquire the weapons needed to run the offense and have a quarterback that can get the ball to where it’s supposed to be. Jared Goff had played this style with Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams, but Johnson perfected it, helping the No. 1 pick of the 2016 NFL Draft rejuvenate his career after he was considered a throw-in to the Matthew Stafford trade.
Johnson continued to lead a top-five offense in scoring the next two seasons, including the No. 1 scoring offense in the NFL last season. But he also oversaw a passing game that ranked second in yardage and a rushing game that ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, in 2023 and 2024.
The question wasn’t if Johnson would ever get a head coaching job; it was when. But what many Lions fans want to know is why he chose the Bears.
The New Orleans Saints or New York Jets probably weren’t good fits because of personnel and ownership situations, while many (including Tampa Bay’s Liam Cohen and Johnson’s co-worker Aaron Glenn) turned down the Jacksonville Jaguars for their structure under general manager Trent Baalke – even with Trevor Lawrence at quarterback.
The Dallas Cowboys have an intriguing team, but are GM’d by an 82-year-old billionaire and while the Las Vegas Raiders have a new minority owner in Tom Brady, it may take a while to build the roster to the level Johnson had in Detroit. (It also remains to be seen whether Brady is a better owner than broadcaster, but we’ll leave it at that.)
That leaves the Bears, who had some attractive qualities, the most obvious of which is Caleb Williams, who was considered one of the best quarterback prospects in recent memory at this time one year ago. Williams didn’t have a bad rookie season statistically, completing 62.5% of his passes for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions, but he’s a different quarterback than the one Johnson worked with in Detroit.
Goff posted a 68.1 completion percentage with Johnson over the past three seasons while also averaging 8.18 air yards per attempt. Williams completed just 62.5% of his passes with the Bears and averaged 6.53 air yards per attempt.
Goff was also great at getting rid of the ball under duress, with a 4.6% sack rate over the past three seasons. While Chicago’s offensive line was part of the problem, Williams didn’t help himself, generating a 10.8% sack rate.
Then there’s the matter of play action. Goff ran play action at the highest rate among starting quarterbacks (35.7%) but he was also one of the best at it, posting an 83.9% adjusted completion rate (which accounts for throwaways, drops, and other plays out of the quarterback’s hands) according to Pro Football Focus.
Williams had the second-lowest play action rate among starters (17.4%), with the only quarterback below him being Kirk Cousins (13.6%), who was coming off a torn Achilles. Williams also ranked 19th among 26 qualifiers with a 76.8% adjusted completion rate and ranked 19th with a 95.4 passer rating in play action.
A lot of these are things that can be coached along the way, but NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein noted Williams was “unlikely to be known for pinpoint accuracy” in his scouting report for the NFL Draft.
It’s also of note that Johnson got to work with a finished product in Goff, who was developed by McVay in Los Angeles, while Williams is still trying to find his way after a turbulent rookie season.
If Johnson can work with Williams to emphasize his strengths, it will then be on him to fix his supporting cast. Chicago’s offensive line will be the first order of business after allowing Williams to be pressured on 35.3% of his dropbacks (11th among starters). But Williams was also part of the problem, as his 38 pressures created were third behind Bo Nix (40) and Patrick Mahomes (45).
D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze are a formidable receiver trio and Johnson has previous experience working with D’Andre Swift during his time in Detroit. But it may not matter if Williams can’t fit what Johnson likes out of his quarterbacks, which is an open question.
We haven’t even reached the intangibles involved with being a head coach. The Bears claimed they wanted “a leader of men” when they fired Matt Eberflus last November, but we don’t know how Johnson will fit that bill. There’s also the case of managing a whole team as opposed to a single unit, which will be particularly challenging in Chicago, considering the Bears ranked 27th in yards allowed.
This could all be wishful thinking and cope for Lions fans, after throwing their “bleep yous” toward Johnson after his departure. Johnson has talent, and he hand-picked a destination where Williams was his quarterback. Clearly, he believes there’s a future where he turns Williams and the Bears into a major threat in the NFC. But Johnson also has plenty of work cut out for him in Detroit, which could make the new hire a lot of screaming over nothing.
Up Next