I like having an offensive genius coaching my favorite football team.
And that is clearly what Ben Johnson is. Every time Ben Johnson has been the play caller, his offensives have always finished in the top ten in the league. And he is not a one trick pony. Ben Johnson is just as good at designing running plays as he is at passing plays.
In fact, the last time the Bears faced the Philadelphia Eagles, they ran all over them to the tune of over 200 yards on the ground. That was quite the feat considering the Eagles have the best interior defensive line in the league.
So with Bears down to their third string quarterback, Case Keenum, everyone assumed the Bears would go back to running the ball down the Eagles’ throat. But the Eagles coaches get paid too so Philadelphia defensive coordinator, Dick Fangio, decided to dare Ben Johnson to make his third string quarterback throw the ball.
The only problem with Fangio’s plan was that Ben Johnson was the one designing the plays. He knows how to put his quarterbacks in a position to succeed. That is the only way you can explain the success Jared Goff had while Johnson was calling the shots.
Johnson drew up a game plan that allowed the crafty veteran to get rid of the ball fast by simply picking the guy that Johnson had schemed open. It was a masterpiece.
But let’s not put Johnson in the hall of fame just yet. He still seems to get too cute at least one time per game. In the opening game win, Johnson went for it on fourth down from his own 20 in the first quarter. Not only that, he called a bad play.
Well he did it agains this game. Early in the game, the referees reviewed a play and determined that a Bears receiver had been stopped about 6 inches from the goal line. No big deal. The Bears would simply push it in on first down… or second… or third. But that all came to a screeching halt when Johnson decided to call a play from the shotgun formation. They only need half a foot!!!! Why would you start a full 5 yards further away? Sure enough the Bears lost about 5 yards and it destroyed the drive. Johnson compounded the problem when he wouldn’t just admit his mistake and kick the field goal on fourth down. So from 1st and inches, the Bears got zero points.
But what really drives me crazy is the Bears actually have a play where 265 pound tight end Coke Kmet takes the snap under center and dives for a yard or two.
Johnson is still very young in his head coaching career. I hope he continues to learn from his mistakes.
